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THE PRACTICAL BOOK 
OF TAPESTRIES 


LIMITED, SUBSCRIPTION EDITION 





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PRACTICAL 
OF TAPESTRIES 


BY 
GEORGE LELAND HUNTER 


AUTHOR OF 


WITH 8 ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR 
AND 220 IN DOUBLETONE 


LIMITED, SUBSCRIPTION EDITION 
WITH 4 ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR 
AND 16 IN DOUBLETONE 


PHILADELPHIA & LONDON 
J.-B. LIPPINCOTT. COMPANY 





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PRINTED BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 
AT THE WASHINGTON SQUARE PRESS — 
PHILADELPHIA, U.S. A. 





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EXTRA PLATES 
OF 
LIMITED, SUBSCRIBERS’ EDITION 


ILLUSTRATING TAPESTRY MASTERPIECES 
NOW IN AMERICA 


IN COLOUR 
PLATES 


S, a.—“The Unicorn at the Fountain,” one of Mr. Rockefeller’s famous set of Gothic 
Tapestries rich with gold, picturing the “Hunt of the Unicorn.” 


S, b.—“The Birds at the Brook,”’ detail of another Tapestry of the same set. 


S, e-—“The Marriage Ceremony,” middle third of Mr. Mackay’s magnificent Gothic 
Tapestry that in five scenes pictures the Story of ‘David and Bathsheba.”’ 


S, d.—Detail of Mr. Philip Lehman’s ‘‘Last Supper,” an Early Renaissance Tapestry 
rich with gold, designed by Bernard van Orley. 











PLATE S, &2.—THE UNICORN AT THE FOUNTAIN, ONE OF MR. ROCKEFELLER’S FAMOUS SET OF GOTHIC 
TAPESTRIES RICH WITH GOLD, PICTURING THE HUNT OF THE UNICORN 


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PLATE 5, b.—THE BIRDS AT THE BROOK, DETAIL OF ANOTHER TAPESTRY OF THE SAME SET 





PLATE 8, C.—THE MARRIAGE CEREMONY, MIDDLE THIRD OF MR. MACKAY’S MAGNIFICENT GOTHIC 
TAPESTRY THAT IN FIVE SCENES PICTURES THE STORY OF DAVID AND BATHSHEBA 








PLATE S, d.—DETAIL OF MR. PHILIP LEHMAN’S “LAST SUPPER,’ AN EARLY RENAISSANCE TAPESTR 
RICH WITH GOLD, DESIGNED BY BERNARD VAN ORLEY 





~* 





EXTRA PLATES 
OF 


LIMITED, SUBSCRIBERS’ EDITION 


IN DOUBLETONE 
PLATES 


S, e.—Detail, portrait of the Virgin, from Mrs. Harold Pratt’s Splendid Early Gothic 
‘Annunciation.’ Notice the richness and almost laciness of the texture due to 
the bold and brilliant use of slits. 


S, f,—‘The Nativity,” detail of Early Gothic Tapestry picturing the “Annunciation” 
and the “Nativity.”’ Duveen Bros. 


S, g.—Mrs. George Blumenthal’s fascinating Early Gothic fragment, that excels alike 
in weave and in design. 


S, h.—Mr. Edson Bradley’s sumptuous “Prince de Malice,” made in the middle of the 
fifteenth century, probably at Tournai. 


S, i—“‘Pouring Wine,” detail from “Vintage,” a magnificent large tapestry made in 
the middle of the fifteenth century. Jacques Seligmann & Son. 


S, j.—“Hector of Troy Arming for Combat, Despite the Protests and Tears of His Wife 
and Mother and Sisters,”’ detail from Mr. Mackay’s ‘“‘Hector and Andromache.” 


S, k.—‘“Galatee in Armor,” detail from Mr. Mackay’s ‘Hector and Andromache.” 
Galatee was Hector’s famous horse. 


S, 1—‘Hector of Troy Ready for Battle,” detail from Mr. Mackay’s ‘Hector and 
Andromache.” 


S, m.—‘‘The Centaur,” one of Mr. Kahn’s three large fragments of the ““Trojan War” 
series made in the middle of the fifteenth century, probably at Tournai. 


S, n.—‘“‘Christ Enthroned, with Pope and Emperor Kneeling Before Him,” detail 
of the famous Mazarin Tapestry rich with gold, that now belongs to 
Mr. Joseph E. Widener. 


S, o.—‘“Portrait of King David,” detail from Mr. Mackay’s “David and Bathsheba.” 


S, p.—Detail from Mr. George Blumenthal’s Late Gothic “Story of Charlemagne”’ 
rich with gold. 


S, q.—‘“Veronica Holding the Veil,”’ detail from Mr. Philip Lehman’s Late Gothic 
Tapestry rich with gold, “The Veronica.’’, 


S, r.—Detail, “The Elopers, Helen and Paris, Welcomed to Troy by Priam.”’ 
Duveen Bros. . 


S, s.—‘Saint John and the Virgin,” detail from Mr. Blumenthal’s Early Renaissance 
‘Crucifixion.’ 


S, t.—‘Five of the Disciples,’ detail from Mr. Philip Lehman’s incomparable “Last 
Supper,” designed by Bernard van Orley. 


ix 





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PLATE S, €.—DETAIL, PORTRAIT OF THE VIRGIN, FROM MRS. HAROLD PRATT’S SPLENDID 
EARLY GOTHIC ‘‘ANNUNCIATION.’? NOTICE THE RICHNESS AND ALMOST LACINESS OF THE 
TEXTURE DUE TO THE BOLD AND BRILLIANT USE OF SLITS 





PLATE §, {.—THE NATIVITY, DETAIL OF EARLY GOTHIC TAPESTRY PICTURING THE 
ANNUNCIATION AND THE NATIVITY. DUVEEN BROS. 





5 eel wee 


GEORGE BLUMENTHAL’S FASCINATING EARLY GOTHIC FRAGMENT, THAT EXCELS ALIKE IN WEAVE 
AND IN DESIGN 





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A MAGNIFICENT LARGE TAP 


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IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY 


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DETAIL FROM 


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PLATE §, 


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JACQUES SELIGMANN & 


MADE 





PLATE §, ].—- HECTOR OF TROY ARMING FOR COMBAT, DESPITE THE PROTESTS AND 
TEARS OF HIS WIFE AND MOTHER AND SISTERS. DETAIL FROM MR. MACKAY’S “HECTOR 


AND ANDROMACHE” 


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Madoomatha de fleng crown + fyetong gi int Sormendn -4 red 
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PLATE 8, k.—HECTOR ARMED AND MOUNTED, DETAIL FROM MR. MACKAY’S “HECTOR AND ANDROMACHE.”’ THE NAME OF 
HECTOR’S HORSE IS GALATEE 








].—HECTOR OF TROY READY FOR BATTLE, DETAIL FROM MR. MACKAY’S ‘‘HECTOR 
AND ANDROMACHE.”’ SEE HECTOR’S NAME IN GOTHIC LETTERS ON HIS SCABBARD 


PLATE 8, 


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PLATE 8S, M.—-THE CENTAUR, ONE OF MR. KAHN’S THREE LARGE 
FRAGMENTS OF THE “TROJAN WAR’ SERIES MADE IN THE MIDDLE OF 
THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY, PROBABLY AT TOURNAI 





PLATE S, N.—CHRIST ENTHRONED, WITH POPE AND EMPEROR KNEELING BEFORE HIM. 
DETAIL OF THE FAMOUS MAZARIN TAPESTRY RICH WITH GOLD, THAT NOW BELONGS TO MR. 
JOSEPH E. WIDENER 


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PLATE S, 0.—PORTRAIT OF KING DAVID, DETAIL FROM MR. MACKAY’S ‘“‘DAVID 
AND BATHSHEBA”’ 





PLATE 8, P.—DETAIL FROM MR. GEORGE BLUMENTHAL’S LATE GOTHIC “STORY OF 
CHARLEMAGNE’”’ RICH WITH GOLD 





. PHILIP LEHMAN’S LATE 


DETAIL FROM MR 


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STRY RICH WITH GOLD 


VERONICA HOLDING THE VEIL 


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PLATE 8S, l.—DETAIL, THE ELOPERS HELEN AND PARIS WELCOMED TO TROY BY PRIAM. FROM 
ONE OF FOUR GOTHIC “HELEN OF TROY” TAPESTRIES BELONGING TO DUVEEN BROS. 





PLATE 8, §.—-SAINT JOHN AND THE VIRGIN, DETAIL FROM MR, BLUMENTHAL’S EARLY RENAISSANCE “CRUCIFIXION” 


: AATHO NVA GUVNUAA AA 
dqdaNvdvisaa (add As LSV',, ATAVUVANOONI S,NVWHGAT dITIhdd ‘YN Wout TivL~aa ‘Sa 1TdIosta HL 4O WATH—*} ‘S GLVId 





I DEDICATE THIS BOOK TO 

FRANCE, THE MOTHER OF TAPESTRIES 

IN RECOGNITION OF THE FACT THAT IN PARIS 

AND ARRAS, IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY, THE 

ART OF TAPESTRY WEAVING WAS DEVELOPED 
FROM PRIMITIVE TO PERFECTED 








FOREWORD 


GREATLY have I been helped by Mr. Clarence H. Mackay, 
the Duke of Alba, Sir Joseph Duveen. Whatever merit 
this book has is largely due to their friendly cooperation, and 
to that of the others named below. 

Greatly am I under obligation to Mr. John D. Rockefeller, 
Jr., Mr. Joseph Widener, Mr. William Randolph Hearst, 
Mrs. Alexander Hamilton Rice, Mrs. F. F. Prentiss, Mr. 
John L. Severance, Mrs. F. T. Bradbury, Mr. W. Hinckle 
Smith, Mrs. C. Wheaton Vaughan, Mrs. William Hayward, 
Mr. George Blumenthal, Mr. Otto Kahn, Mr. James L. Breese, 
Mr. Edson Bradley, Mr. Philip Lehman, Mrs. E. H. Harriman, 
Mr. H. E. Huntington, Mr. Archer Huntington, Mr. Harry 
Payne Whitney, Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan, Mrs. E. Parmelee 
Prentice, Mrs. Harold I. Pratt, Mrs. Edward F. Hutton, Mrs. 
Nicolas F. Brady, Mr. E. J. Berwind, Mrs. Stanford White, 
Mr. John J. Albright, Mr. Cyrus H. McCormick, Miss Lilla 
P. Wheeler, Mr. John D. Mellhenny, Mr. Philip Hiss, Mr. 
Edward Robinson, Mr. Joseph Breck, Mr. H. W. Kent, Mr. 
W. H. Clifford, Dr. Bashford H. Dean, Miss Robinson, Mrs. 
Frances Seaver, Mrs. Ansley Wilcox, Mr. Willis O. Chapin, 
Mrs. Cornelia Sage-Quinton, Mr. Edwin Atlee Barber, Mr. F. 
Allen Whiting, Mr. Edward R. Smith, Sir Cecil Smith, Sir 
Charles Allom, Mr. Harvey Watts, Miss Nancy McClelland, 
Mr. H. D. Eberlein, Dr. W. R. Valentiner, Mr. Frank G. 
Macomber, Miss Sarah G. Flint, Mrs. H. M. Wilmarth, Mr. 
Augustus Eddy, Mrs. Hugh Birch, Mr. and Mrs. Robert 
McCormick, Mr. Spencer Eddy, Mr. Emile Baumgarten, Mr. 
Thomas H. Kirby, Mr. Paul Baumgarten, Mr. Robert Baum- 
garten, Mr. Philip Rice, Mr. Giles Whiting, Mr. Robert Under- 


X1 


Xll FOREWORD 


wood Johnson, Mr. Edwin H. Blashfield, Mr. George G. Booth, 
Mr. Ralph Booth, The Republic of Austria, Brookline Trust 
Co., Mr. Paul Drey, Fraulein Bach, Mr. John Lane, Mr. Walter 
Johnson, Messrs. Halm & Goldmann, Brentano’s, Monsieur 
Edouard Champion, Mr. E. Weyhe, Mr. William Helburn, and 
Mr. John A. Moffitt. 

Especially do I wish to express my gratitude to His 
Majesty, the King of Spain, Alfonso XIII, for permission and 
opportunity to study the finest collection of tapestries in the 
world, and to have special photographs made of the incompar- 
able Virgin set; also, to the Spanish Ambassador at Paris, 
Quifiones de Leon; the Duke of Fernan-Nuiiez, the Marquis 
dela Torrecilla, the Duke of Medinaceli, the Duchess of Aliaga, 
the Viscount de Ronda, the Marquis de la Vega Inclan, Senor 
Vives of the Istituto Valencia, Don Livinio Stuyck, Director 
of the Royal Spanish Tapestry Factory; and to the Private — 
Secretary of the King, Don Emilio Maria de Torre, whose 
letters of introduction opened for me the treasures of the 
Spanish cathedrals. 

Warmly I thank the dealers who have allowed me to illus- 
trate tapestries in their possession, and have helped me secure 
photographs, with permission to publish, of tapestries sold by 
them: Duveen Brothers, P. W. French & Co., Jacques Selig- 
mann & Son, Demotte, Morris & Co., Wildenstein & Co., 
Arnold Seligmann, Rey & Company, Lewis & Simmons, Wm. 
Baumgarten & Co., Alavoine & Co., Richard W. Lehne, Dikran 
G. Kelekian, Harding, Dawson, Hayden Co., H. S. Souhami, 
F. Maluf, Hampton Shops, Charles, Frank Partridge, Larcade, 
Jonas, Jansen, Edgewater Tapestry Looms, Herter Looms, 
Pollak & Winternitz. 

Affectionately I acknowledge my indebtedness for inspira- 
tion and guidance to Jules Guiffrey, Joseph Destrée, Eugene 
Male, Georges Doutrepont, Petit de Julleville, L. Farey, 


FOREWORD xill 


Seymour de Ricci, Jean Guiffrey, Marquet de Vasselot, Stan- 
ford White, G. J. Demotte, Achille Jubinal, Eugéne Muntz, 
K. Soil, Maurice Fenaille, Tormo Monzo, Sanchez Canton, 
Gustave Migeon, Ki. Bertaux, Gomez-Moreno, Alan §S. Cole, 
H. S. Marillier, W. G. Thomson, Max J. Friedlander, Eber- 
hard Bodenhausen, Rudolf F. Burckhardt, R. M. Riefstahl, 
Hermann Schmidt, Heinrich Gobel, Jules Badin, Gustave 
Geoffroi, Jean Ajalbert, John Bottiger, Harry Wearne, Henry 
W. Frohne; and last but not least to HE. S. Holloway of the 
J.B. Lippincott Company. 
GrorcE Letanp HunTER 


NEW YORK CITY 
JuLy 1, 1925 





NOTE 


Besides the regular edition of this volume, there has been issued, in 
a special binding and at an advanced price, a Limited Subscribers’ 
Edition which, in addition to the contents of the regular edition, has four 
full-page plates in colour, and sixteen full-page plates in doubletone, of 
Tapestry Masterpieces now in America. Reference to these illustrations 
will be found in the text of both editions. Reference will also be found 
to Hunter 1912 and other volumes. These references have been made 
for the convenience of students who may wish help in consulting the 
illustrations of other books, especially of my first book on Tapestries, 
now out of print. 








CHAPTER 
I. 


Il. 
III. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 
PISUEOUIUCTION ics is so. Sales ss A rh eer ans REN eee ann iar ass : het | 
PRIMITIVE TAPESTRIES............. Pe ie Nerina ate 7 
Ear.ty Gotuic Picture TAPESTRIES........... Rape hy oe IMT ss yar 17 
Gotuic RELIGIOUS AND ALLEGORICAL TAPESTRIES............-0200005 29 
Gotuic HistoricAL AND ROMANTIC TAPESTRIES .............200- Se ar fs) 
Gotuic Country Lire TAPESTRIES.......... PAS ais ek. AA el eee 95 
trOTHICe LAPESTRIES Rice: With GOLD... 0... ccc ccs ce tess veee ws 111 
FLEMISH AND FRENCH RENAISSANCE TAPESTRIES............00000005 125 
GoBELIN TAPESTRIES OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY............... 139 
FLEeMisH TAPESTRIES OF THE SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES 153 


BEAUVAIS TAPESTRIES.......... ie Laat haere Arphomite rh es Aenea eed fir 
GOBELIN TAPESTRIES OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY...............-.. 179 
MMI PREG EES Iu cs sacs o socnse 2% Wn PES Oh a slants ks wk ee 193 
GERMAN AND SWISS TAPESTRIES............000 ccc eeeae eer ee p 205 
OTA e el APESTRIES 6. 0)... sw ca ww bees Renato, oN RPE Om Aled ALS 213 
ENGLISH, SPANISH, AND RussIAN TAPESTRIES......... Liat mies Neate ey 219 
mete VIP TORE 0c ie... cee eas gst a cRigian Sh eee re ee ae 229 
TAPESTRY DESIGN........... ; earn oe eee escorts PATRAS aie 243 
TAPESTRY MANUFACTURE...... ee! cAeeet cds ei Lea Ea ree Q57 
TAPESTRY FURNITURE COVERINGS......... AE Ori) et o../oet areas Pa ee 
GRU Me PAPEATRIUS. . go. os os soe ewe wo Dect é bee uen Rane ies eee 
Pusiic CoLLECTIONS AND TAPESTRY LITERATURE ..... biter ee AR eR 279 
INDEX oF ABBREVIATED Book-TITLES USED IN THE TEXT...... Reels ee 281 


Lo TES \en Alte a a STE RCe SS pre cetines< sieee Sii Re ee ee Oe 





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ILLUSTRATIONS 


THE PLATES ARE EASY TO LOCATE AS THEY ARE NEXT THE CHAPTER 
THEY ILLUSTRATE, ALL II PLATES WITH CHAPTER II, ALL III PLATES 
WITH CHAPTER III, ETC. THE SMALL LETTERS SHOW THE SEQUENCE 


PAGE 
Detail from “The Capture of Jerusalem’’................ Frontispiece (in colour) 
Puate II, a.—Detail of Egyptian Tapestry of the fifteenth century B.C......... 16 
Piate II, b.—Blessed Vesta, detail of Egyptian Tapestry of the second century A.D. 16 
Prate II, c.—Coptic Tapestry of the fifth century A.D.................. 0000s 16 
Puatr IJ, d—Coptic Tapestry of the third century A.D.................0 00005 16 
Puate II, da.—Saracenic Tapestry of about the tenth century ................ 16 
Puate II, e.—Detail of Byzantine tenth century Tapestry.................0.. 16 
eer ieeen- A ohinese SUK Tapestry... cis co ae cc ke ede cee dee ea eee bees 16 
Pxiate II, f.—German Tapestry of the thirteenth century..................... 16 
Pier metiiee, (iy colour).—Portrait of King Arthur.............00000-e008 005 17 
Puate III, b.—King Arthur, Early Gothic Tapestry of Mr. Clarence H. Mackay. 28 
Puatss III, c, ca, cb, cc.—Four scenes from the Angers Apocalypse............ 28 
Puate III, d.—One of the personages of the Angers Apocalypse................ 28 


Puate III, e—Two scenes from the early fifteenth century Saint Piat and Saint 
Eleuthére set...... PPE ere ee ee Rena a. Speier hth oe ta MA col Uchiha 


pee teeta or plate LIN, 6.0.5 5 ek ee evil ee eee ee sev eenens evan 28 
Puate III, g.—Detail of the Brussels Museum’s fourteenth century Presentation 28 
PuatE III, h—Early Gothic Tapestry in the Padua Museum ............... 28 
Puatse III, i—Early Gothic Tapestry of Mrs. Harold I. Pratt................. 28 
Puate III, j.—Early Gothic verdure with personages ..............00 00 ee eee 28 
Puatss III, k, ka.—Details of Early Gothic hunting Tapestry................. 28 
Puate IV, a, (in colour).—Detail of “The Seven Sacraments”’................. 29 
Puate IV, b.—Marriage and Extreme Unction............... 02.000 ce eee eees 72 
Peni tv ane. a onurmation and Tonsure.... 5.6... sive ccce seer ieee neee as 72 
Piste. .0.—Conurmation and Tonsure.... 0.06660 c ee eew dees c et aeceenves 72 
PuateE IV, e, ea.—Crucifixion Tapestry of the second quarter of the fifteenth century 72 
a eee ney Gothic: Crucifixion... 66.5. .)cck ase aces dee vipa ass enw yon 72 
Pammauvete—- ate Gothic Adoration... .:..5.206. 4000s neslegsawe sine dene 72 
Peres y tb. — 1. wo. Marys and Barbara. ..... 0.2: 6ee wasn ccs ee evvedawree 72 
Puats IV, g.—Credo Tapestry in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts............. 72 
Puatse IV, h.—Detail of magnificent large Credo Tapestry.................... 72 
Puate IV, i.—Crucifixion, from the famous Salvation series.................5- 72 
Puate IV, j.—Baptism, from the famous Salvation series...............0.000 72 
Puate IV, ja.—Ascension, from the famous Salvation series................... 72 
Puate IV, jb.—Last Judgment, from the famous Salvation series............... 72 


XX ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 
Piates IV, k, ka.—Redemption, from the famous Salvation series......0..«6..48 72 
Puate IV, 1.—Prodigal Son. ..... 0.06. cece eee cece ee cee teen nent eee necens 72 
Prats IV, m.—One of the famous “Banquet et Souper”’ Series. ...d as aca eee 72 
Piates IV, n, na.—Dismissal of Vashti, from the famous Gothic Esther series.... 72 
Puatre IV, o.—Annunciation, one of the famous Virgin series at Reims.......... 72 
Puate V, a, (in colour).—Portrait of King Priam............ 62+ essere eee eee 73 
Pirate V, b.—Mr. Mackay’s Hector and Andromache...........-+.+++++++++> 94 
Puate V, c.—Capture of Troy, one of the four Trojan War Tapestries at the 
Cathedral of Zamora. «1.2. . oc cee eles te ae et pele ee ee 94 
Prats V, d.—Funeral of Hector... .. 2.2... 0.046 eee ee oss = eee 94 
Piate V, e.—Mourners at the Funeral of Hector. ........-...+- +++ sees tees 94 
Puare V, f.—Mourners at the Funeral of Hector..............0++ esse erences 94 
Puatrse V, g.—Two of the choir at the Funeral of Hector. ..¢. 0.52. see 94 
Piate V, h.—Ulysses and Diomedes at the Court of Priam............++-+++-- 94 
Puatss V, i, ia.—Story of Paris and Helen... .........-- 2.0 eee eee eee eee es 94 
Puats V, j.—One of the famous Story of Caesar Tapestries........-.+++++++++: 94 
Puates V, k, ka.—Alexander the Great in Airship and Submarine... .2:. ese 94 
Puate VI, a, (in colour).—Rose Garden... ..... 66.26. 2 ee eee ee eee e eens 95 
Pyate VI, b.—Fountain.. . 0... eee cece cos aie eis eee 0 alee ales ie ttl ase eta 110 
Puate VI, c.—Detail of plate VI, b... 2.1... ee eee eee ee ee ener ene 110 
Puate VI, d.—Another detail of plate VI, b..... 2.0... 0 eee eee eee eee eee 110 
Puiate VI, e.—Unicorn in Captivity... 2.2.0... eee eee ee eee ee eee cence 110 
Puate VI, f.—Detail of Gothic Vintage Tapestry. .......... 0. +s seer eee eeees 110 
Puate VI, g.—Another detail of the same Tapestry. ......-.---.s++ sees eres 110 
Puate VI, h.—Forty years later... 2... 0.66. eet eee ee tee re teens 110 
Puate VI, ii—Detail of Gothic Vintage Tapestry. .......... 2-02 seer sete e eee 110 
Puate VI, j.—Bath in the Open... ..... 2... 2. eee eee ee eee eet rene teens 110 
Prater VI, ja.—Semiramis in Armor Combing her Hair.........---+-++++++++: 110 
Puate VI, k.—Training the Falcon... .........-: eee ee cere reenter eer eeceees 110 
Pirate VI, ka.—Late Gothic Mille-fleur Tapestry. .......--+-++++++ esse ereees 110 
Puate VI, 1.—Marriage Tapestry made in the second quarter of the fifteenth century 110 
Pirate VI, m.—Visit of the Gypsies...........62-+ sees ee pe erst cs eer seenens 110 
Puate VI, n.—Human Life as a Fragile Deer........--. 0-0 seer eee e ee eeee 110 
Puate VI, na.—Gothic Verdure Equestrian Hunting Tapestry.........--.-+--- 1106 
Puate VII, a.—Annunciation .... 2.22.6 060s eee es ee + oe ie 111 
Prats VII, b.—Nativity ..... 0. ..56 25 ons tore ee 2 ee ee 124 
Puate VII, ba.—Intercession with the Virgin.......--. 20+ eee reer eee e ees 124 
Puate VII, c.—Esther and Augustus. ....... 2-0. eee cee eee eee ree teens 124 
Puate VII, d.—Detail from Charlemagne Tapestry.......---- +++ --++eseeeees 124. 
Puate VII, da.—Detail of Veronica Tapestry... .....---e cere e cere ee eee 124 
Puate VII, e.—Vespasian kneeling before Veronica. .........+++++++ssteeeees 124 


Puate VII, f.—Veronica Tapestry... 1... 2. cece cece ere ee eee renee ee aceee 124 


ILLUSTRATIONS XX1 


PAGE 
Bee i tae Couildhood of Jesus”... ce eee sce ne cede nenecececcees 124 
mete ti rist and the Woman... ......i20 600 beeen eee cee ecesvew ans 124 
Semen eee imtant Christ and Kucharist........0.0 0420 e eee tee eees 124 
perma ee aint Claude ‘Tapestry... 2.066. . cc cee wens bed ee en eneeacs 124 
LV yes a0 Se 124 
Pirate VIII, a, (in colour).—Adoration of the Magi.............. 0.20000 ce ees 125 
ees -Onrist and oaint JObN. 52.6 0c cece csc sees cesar ste eetes neue 138 
Pere —C TUCIIXION $<. oc ss cc ee es one bob ese weecewsanvetvaddecevces 138 
PN UTIEROR eS URSUUD DCT. oc ies ce San ce ee ne cede been e ad Ueite bees ¥aee es 138 
fered. —sketen for Kebruary.... 56.066 ss ps eek wise eee ete abe caus 138 
Puare) Vi1),-da.—lapestry made from this sketch .... 0.550. ccc cece ete eee eee 138 
Puate VIII, &—-April, one of the:Months of Lucas. ...0... 000 ce ec cee cece nes 138 
Peewee tiie ea) ane ond Bgeria. . 5.66 i ike cc ck wee se be we tees aevies 138 
oat V111) 4.—Cartoon of Christ's Charge to Peter... ......06000 00sec accswes 138 
Puate VIII, fa.—First Tapestry woven from this cartoon..................2065 138 
Pee tee acritice Of Isaac: 2... kc cee ce taco et euwpecceecs 138 
Pees 1h) pe. Carthaginian Suppliants......... 0.0.00. cere cence ascwcencd 138 
MMAR ite PAHO ea oh no ong see ees visa aviagdsladaccbcetaucs 138 
Peavey 1 tloha.——rancis 1 as Roman Emperor... ...........00c022eeeenacees 138 
Puate IX, a.—Triumphal Entry of Louis XIV into Dunkirk.................. 139 
Puate IX, b.—Triumphal Entry of Alexander the Great into Babylon.......... 152 
Pe RM GFaUINg Of MOSES) 2.5. cc occ cee eee esiaweceueaencene ctl 152 
Pe Cae AAR ALNING ss oe wee a ee ee eae cae see ede i weet ew ees 152 
ere et Venus, sUNO and Ceres, .6.. os aves occa ws ga ned einbeecseeewas 152 
Puate IX, e.—Old Woman telling the story of Psyche..........0........0000- 152 
Puate IX, ea.—Early Gobelin Tapestry version in the French National Collection 152 
eee NPAT SII V CNUS. ose ecw oy a aces ab oes tren ws bw Sale Fae w lene .. 152 
Se ee TC AN PSYCHE... oj occ en a cp vga hers epee scene eves 152 
Piatr X, a.—One of the original large Decius Mus cartoons.................. 153 
PuaTtE X, aa.—Tapestry woven from this cartoon............0.0cceceeeeceees 153 
Pee eee ATID Of PUGILD:. 5 2. eae eee si ae ec wie ane eee esos es eens 158 
Ree EC. —LrClPAVAL OL SAMSON... . 5+ «iss oss so dw ble bn da wa wanna sb eee ebulc 158 
Pee rtd tattle Of ActiuI . .). «ns sis sis <c.v'e's ean aceite nl Os vase ela en eee 158 
eR MD ETIVCES RA Ch. 6 5b 0 ons 'd <a ain Wal ee eee aed ne oe te alate 158 
Pirate X, da.—Oudenarde Verdure...... gid Uae The te Neer Pe lee eee Wk Sone ame ee 158 
Pager e-— oancho Panza Tossed in a Blanket...: 0. i. 25c0 0g cee ses au ves 158 
CO MRC ee PTA SNS ss, d yd a hn. aw e's dake a RENO tae mn eu! Goines neal 158 
Fiat.) 8, (0 colour).—Jupiter and Antiope, ...,..26.4s2c0e005+06 4005000 159 
Pater ).--Audience of the Emperor... .... 25. 0ecseccr acs ces en ewe nee seus 178 
BUMS NA CTCICIATIS 5 «67266. 0. seals ea dele ie Anka EM wo AN ee ea 178 


Peeeeerene-Malsde Imaginaite., ¢. 150 dh.6 os stn g oes ho tees eee oes 178 


Xx ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 
Prare XI, d.—Charlatan..... 0.2... eee c ee cet wen teeter see sons hem amt 178 
Puate XI, da.—Chinese Fair... 1.0.0.0... cee eee eee teeter ee teense m arenes 178 
Puate XI, e—Bacchus and Ariadne............- eee e ee cree eee tee eet 178 
Puatre XI, ea.—Psyche Dressing...........-+++-++0+> bie 6 ks ee ai ee 178 
Puate XI, f.—Mars and Venus. ..... 0.0... eee cee ce cre ee eet eee tae erences 178 
Prats XI, fa.—One of the Huet-Boucher “Pastorales’.............+--++eeeee> 178 
Puate XI, g.—Temple of Love..... 0.2... eee eee eee eee e eee teenies 178 
Puatr XI, ga.—Achilles Discovered. .........- 0.02 e eee eee ee eee tee re eee 178 
Puate XII, a, (in colour).—Cowardice of Sancho Panza...........+ ++ eeeeeeees 179 
Puate XII, b.—January, one of the Months of Lucas..........--++seseeeseees _ 192 
Pirate XII, c.—April, one of the Months of ) Fic: \ er 192 
Puare XII, d.—October, one of the Months of Lucas...........+++-+se+seee 192 
Puate XII, e.—One of the famous Gobelin “Indies”... .., 5. 192 
Puate XII, ea.—One of the Gobelin “Hunts of Louis ». 0 MMe By i ie 192 
Puate XII, f£.—Ceres.. occ cine es go's bee eo Ble om mie ale eae 192 
Puatse XII, fa.—Esther Dressing. .........---- cee ce eee eco e eens eee eeeeas 192 
Pirate XII, g.—Aurora and Cephalus...........--. 62 eee eee eee renee nes 192 
Puate XII, h.—Amintas and Sylvia. .... 6... eee ee ect ee eee eee eee 192 
Puate XIII, a.—Triumph of Cupid.......... 66. ce eee ee eee eee ee eens 193 
Puate XIII, b.—Chinoiserie Landscape............-.. Snel bla tes eR ee eee 204 
Puate XIII, ba.—Triumphal Entry of Alexander the Great into Babylon........ 204 
Puate XIII, c.—Palace of Circe... ...... 0 cece ee te eer e ee ee es wees eane 204 
Prats XIII, d.—Tea Drinking... . 2.2... 060 c cee en ee os woes oer ene 204 
Puare XIII, da.—Playing Ball... ... 2.0... 06. cece eee eee ee tee eee eee teens 204 
Piatt XIV, a.—Solomon and the Queen of Sheba... .....--. 0+ +s sere eer reese 205 
Puate XIV, b.—Garden of Love.... 2.2... 0220 css cece scenes es are eee em eine 212 
Prats XIV, ba.—Presentation. 0... 2.0.04 0220 eee oo one ene 212 
Puate XIV, c.—Nine Preux..........-- cece cee cere ee teeter teen eee cscens 213 
Puate XV, a.—Hercules Slaying the Nemean Lion.........--- +++ +e sere eeees 218 
Puate XV, b.—Ecce Homo... ... 1... cece ee eee ee ee et etter eee eesecens 218 
Puate XV, c.—Pompey’s Head Brought to Caesar.........+-.+e eee seers reese 218 
Puare XV, ca.—Dante and Virgil... 1.2.0... cee eee etter erences 218 
Puate XV, d.—Moses Striking the Rock..........--. eee reece eee e cesses 219 
Pirate XV, da.—David Sees Bathsheba Bathing..........---++++seeereeeeees 219 
Puate XVI, a.—Curing the Paralytic.........-.--2s cee veces esses ene cn cae 228 
Puate XVI, b.—Leander’s Arrival. .... 0... 02. c eee eee e ee tee etre tense ees 228 
Puate XVI, ba.—Leander’s Departure. ........ 6-0. eee e cree tere teeter ecees 228 
Puate XVI, c.—Landscape Chinoiserie....... 2.2. - 02sec eee ete settee ee eees 228 
Puate XVI, ca.—Swing. i... es ee cee ee ele «ries ome ene ae 228 
Puare XVI, cb.—AIr. oc... se oe ba ee eo we oie wil eee ee ee 228 


Puate XVI, d.—Tiny Giants... 0.0. 5c aee cee ee oe oe on oe as este ieee ee 228 


ILLUSTRATIONS Xxlil 


PAGE 
Beagle y 1, a,—Cnildren Gathering Fruit...........0...c0cccsevesevcavces 228 
Meer Serre peat Pedlar 2... eed deh hea daha so pabeecuscceus 228 
fem ishon Of Antwerp... 2... 2c. ccce ce cece ce vevecnsccecsns 228 | 
meee Vil) Ga. Hannah and Samuel............s-ecccccecacccuccvccecce 228 
Soe eee Horizontal Tibs.......c-s.<sc0cer neue vee uscevsecvecwecvs 229 
rere Watt CPliCRl THOS... 2 6s oiscx oc e's svc vie neice aes cope vdvancdeae'a 229 
Petras Portrait.of Priati.< ©. ....5 6s sacs 0c ts ee be ck scee neces sees 242 
meee tt ba. hortrait of Danae......... 6.6 esc ces wesc cape ee ee ceenecs 242 
Meee ee PF Olinge detail... . sb cca be eee dee seen enineesscedeccouwess 242 
SE RAE LS SOOT) LTCE... oc s/w cos vicis.sivivce suweseeenkterecdadaevecsse 242 
Perm ae rer el anaseape detail... .. 6 fees ea bees bo ee Meee s cee en ue uuveves 242 
pee 1 ee exture detail... 2... cc he enews as deneseucueesasdvcseas 242 
eee on eo. ——N ine Preux:. 2... s cpa ec en wens voce ae ou vanseccwven 243 
Prats XVIII, b.—Portraits of Philip the Good and Charles the Bold........... 256 
Puate XVIII, ba.—Portraits of Louis XII and Philip the Handsome............ 256 
Petey tit, c¢;—Armorial of Charles the Bold... ............ 0... ccc ee eves 256 
Peery lt), 0-—Detail of Tapestry opposite. .../......6... 0 ce cee c ene 256 
Puates XVIII, e, ea.—So-called signatures of Jean de Rome.................. 256 
Puate XVIII, f.—Detail of one of the “Honors” set....................2000. 256 
Puarm «Vl, fe-—Detail of a “Story of David’ Tapestry.................... 256 
Prate XViil, g.—Charlemagne armorial Tapestry...................0.0c0 00. 256 
Puate XVIII, h.—Portrait of the Emperor Charles V and his wife Isabella of 
Serie IG eta Ss ical; Ag bees ake e a + vb v eeies 256 
Puate XVIII, ha.—Christopher Columbus armorial Tapestry.................. 256 
Puate XVIII, i.—Sketch for one of the Battle of Pavia Tapestries............. 256 
Puare XVIII, ia.—Sketch for one of the “Children Playing” Tapestries......... 256 
Prats XVIII, j, ja.—Two of the famous Raphael cartoons.................... 256 
Puate XVIII, k.—Making a set of five cartoons.............. cece eee eee ees 256 
Perey 1 Cartoon painters at work. «0.66. 6 os se wel eleleie ls paleo e's e'e 256 
Puate XIX, a.—Making a pass at the Gobelins. .................0005. rit Ee 257 
Pare 6. b._oenimnd a high-warp,loom......066 i620 eco oeld alee oa Feces 270 
Peers, ba.—in front of a high-warp loom.. .. 2.0.05. 0660 ees seed eed ves 270 
Pine © t.—-Low-warp tapestry Weaving . 6 6. feck cates che wee eee dace s 270 
Pirate XIX, d.—Tapestry weaving. General view of low-warp loom........... 270 
Puate XIX, e.—Supplementing an ancient fragment...................02008- 270 
ee NPA PTiICtiON ICVErs. .. 6 66 66s va ols ee weed stele juvenile ws melee oebp ers 270 
Puate XIX, f.—Spinning wheel, and spools of woolen thread.................. 270 
Puate XIX, fa.—Bobbins wound with wool or silk, and stock of yarn........... 270 
EOE CU See VE TOALETIOIS , 2.5 a's as. x ev0..0 ‘s/n. ldo Wo pr tal og bei olelalpln apm'as extn 'y 40088 270 
Ree ee i yer at: WOK... 5 ek as win les vain cee wile CS ne win Yiah wegen ane 270 


Puate XX, a.—Brilliant achievement in Tapestry furniture coverings .......... 271 


XXIV ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 
Puatr XX, b.—One of the chairs belonging to the set.) os ¢.0'. 5 sp 272 
Prats XX, c.—Another of the chairs belonging to the. set, . £.....s0:-\e er een 272 
Puate XX, d, da.—Tapestry furniture coverings in the Louvre......-.+-+-+++- 272 
Prare XX, e, ea.—Seat and back by Oudry. .. =. +. «=< 15 += wasnt es esas 272 
Prare XX, f.—Sofa by Oudry.. 00.0 c5 2 os us 0 <> ois e210 oe aaa Q72 
Prarm XX, g.—Sofa by Salembier.. .- 2. 50+ 05+ 2 <2 78? Wale niece 273 
Pirates XXI, a—Modern American verdure Tapestry with coat-of-arms.......-. 278 
Prare XXI, aa.—Detail of XX, a... os hee 278 

Piars XXI, b—Brennus, British King of Gaul. A Gothic Tapestry from the 
third quarter of the fifteenth century. .....----+++s+ssrr tr errtrts 278 

Prats XXI, c.—Arrival of Psyche at Cupid’s Palace, one of Mrs. Rice’s perfect 
set of five Beauvais-Bouchers.......-..-++seee recesses cess reees 278 

Pirate XXI, d.—Quo Vadis, one of a set of Gothic Tapestries made in the third 
quarter of the fifteenth century......--+-++s++seerscersesettt tes 278 

Prats XXI, e.—Youth, one of three brilliant Gothic Tapestries from the Chateau 
de Chaumont.. 0.200 0ecct ee ome soe ec ens 6 cuely a elas ene 278 

Piatr XXI, f.—Pierre de Rohan sings to his wife’s Playing. A Gothic Tapestry 
made about 1510. Cathedral of Angers......-..+-+-+¢+++2++e00+% 278 

Prate XXI, fa.—Adoration of the Magi. A Gothic Tapestry from the middle of 
the fifteenth century. Berne Museum........----+++++seseeee0 278 

Puare XXI, g—Autumn, one of the set of four Gobelin Seasons of Lucas that 
adorn the walls of the Brookline Trust Co.....--..+-++-++++++05: 278 


Pirate XXI, h.—The Wood Cutters, a Gothic Tapestry from the middle of the 
fifteenth century in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs...i2 tsa 5 Sete eee 279 


THE PRACTICAL BOOK 
OF TAPESTRIES 


CHAPTER I 
INTRODUCTION 


TH1s is a practical book. It sticks to the facts. It is 
based, not on other books, but on, tapestries that I have seen 
and know. It wastes little space on unimportant tapestries, 
or on tapestries that have ceased to exist. 

I dedicate the book ‘‘to FRANCE, THE MOTHER OF TAPESTRIES”’ 
in recognition of the fact that Perfected Tapestries are a 
French art based on French literature and painting, and devel- 
oped at Arras and Paris in the fourteenth century. All great 
Gothic tapestries are French Gothic, whether woven in North- 
ern France or in the French Netherlands. 

The Van EKycks, and Robert Campin, and Jacques Daret, 
and Roger van der Weyden, were French-Flemish painters 
forming part of the artistic entourage of the French Duke of 
Burgundy, ruler of the Netherlands. Their paintings like the 
tapestries related to them, might be called French-Burgundian 
Gothic. I think it clearer to use the term French-Flemish. 

During a large part of the fifteenth century, French- Flem- 
ish was the dominant part of French art. Under Philip 
the Good, Bruges and Ghent and Tournai and Brussels were 
capital cities of French culture. For the Duke of Burgundy 
were created the finest French manuscripts, the finest French 
paintings, the finest French tapestries. Compared with him, 
his suzerains and relatives the kings of France, Charles VI 
and Charles VII, were artistically unimportant. The Hun- 

1 


2 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


dred Years’ War and the Anglo-Burgundian alliance exalted 
a French duke above the French king, in wealth and in power. 

As in architecture and in furniture so in tapestry there are 
four important groups. These groups are: (1) Gothic, (2) 
Renaissance, (3) Baroque, (4) Rococo and Classic Revival. 
The later groups are child, grandchild, and great-grandchild 
of Gothic. 

Most surviving Gothic tapestries date from the fifteenth » 
century. Most Renaissance tapestries date from the six- 
teenth century. Most Baroque tapestries date from the seven- 
teenth century. Most Rococo and Classic Revival tapestries 
date from the eighteenth century. 

But two of the groups lap over into the following century. 
That is to say, many Gothic tapestries were woven during the 
first fifteen years of the sixteenth century; many Renais- 
sance tapestries during the first fifteen years of the seven- 
teenth century. 7 

Of Gothic tapestries as a whole it may be said that they 
are vastly superior to later tapestries. Gothic design is closer 
to tapestry texture, and more completely utilizes the extra- 
ordinary abilities of tapestry bobbins and loom. 

The finest Gothic tapestries are those made before 1480; 
and those rich with gold, made in Brussels at the end of 
the fifteenth century, when Philip the Handsome and Joanna 
the Mad reigned over the Netherlands (1496-1506). Close 
to these come the Early Renaissance tapestries designed by 
Bernard van Orley, made at Brussels between 1515 and 1535, 
and also rich with gold. 

Next to Gothics, rank the tapestries woven at Beauvais in 
the middle third of the eighteenth century, after the designs 
of Francois Boucher, with subjects that are far from religious 
and without gold. Next to Beauvais-Bouchers are the 
Gobelin-Bouchers and the Gobelin-Coypels. 


INTRODUCTION 3 


Altogether magnificent and splendid are the tapestries 
originated under the direction of Charles Lebrun at the Gobe- 
lins during the reign of Louis XIV, many of them with gold, 
and many created on high-warp looms. They are almost as 
complete an interpretation of their period as Gothics of theirs. 
_ Inferior to all of these are most Renaissance tapestries, 
although some of the sets rich with gold in the Royal Spanish 
collection dazzle with their brilliancy, and although Raphael’s 
‘‘Acts of the Apostles,’? and many of the sets based on the 
designs of Giulio Romano and Bernard van Orley and their 
successors, compel our admiration. 

Late Renaissance tapestries, that is to say tapestries woven 
after 1570, are much inferior to Karly Renaissance tapestries. 
The decadence of tapestry weaving was largely due to the 
religious troubles of the Netherlands. The attempt of Arch- 
dukes Albert and Isabella to revive the industry early in the 
seventeenth century was only moderately successful. 

Many of the Flemish tapestries woven in the seventeenth 
century are unattractive. The sculptural exaggerations of 
Baroque are foreign to the genius of tapestry. This applies 
quite as much to the designs of Rubens as to the designs of 
his imitators and successors. 

Tapestries of the four great groups are comparatively 
easy to distinguish. Renaissance and Baroque tapestries have 
wide borders; Gothic and eighteenth century tapestries have 
narrow borders or none. Baroque tapestries have heavy 
shadow-and-light bands just inside the border. 

Gothic tapestries excel in reds, Renaissance tapestries in 
whites and golden yellows, Baroque tapestries in blues, Rococo 
tapestries in roses, while Classic Revival colours are weak and 
pale. The dark reds of Flemish Baroque tapestries have 
usually faded, changing to yellows and browns. 

Gothic tapestries may be described as ‘‘line’’ tapestries, 


A THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


Renaissance as ‘‘paint’’ tapestries, Baroque as ‘¢sculptural’’ 
tapestries, Rococo and Classic Revival as ‘‘paint’’ tapestries. 
This means that Gothic tapestries tend to accentuate line 
effects, especially the vertical line effects which are the domi- 
nant feature of Gothic decorative art. Renaissance tapes- 
tries accentuate horizontal effects, and develop paint-style 
modeling, moderately. Baroque tapestries sacrifice other 
qualities in the effort to over-accentuate sculptural modeling, 
and break both vertical and horizontal lines in the effort to 
secure variety and be emphatic. Rococo has many points in 
common with fifteenth century Gothic, and is sympathetic in 
a small way with tapestry texture. Rococo tapestry designers 
learned much from Chinese paintings and embroideries, that 
were the great inspiration of Western Hurope in the eigh- 
teenth century. 

To distinguish tapestries of the four great groups is easy. 
What is hard, is to distinguish tapestries from objects that are 
not tapestries, or that are not the kind of tapestries which make 
the subject of this book. 

Tapestry is a broad word. If you ask for tapestries in 
one shop, they will show you ‘‘petit points’? made with needle. 
In another, tapestry wall-papers. In another, printed cloths 
patterned like tapestry wall-papers. In another, silk tapestries 
with woven pattern resembling that of ‘‘netit points.’? In 
another, Jacquard verdures and picture panels. In another, 
tapestry rugs and carpeting. In another, painted imitations 
of ‘‘real tapestries.’’ In another, block-printed imitations. In 
another, double-warp tapestries. With none of these have we 
anything to do. We shall treat only of cloths that are tapes- 
try in the proper and primary sense—bobbin-made with sur- 
face consisting entirely of weft threads, usually a ribbed or 
‘Crep’? weave, with coarse hard warps and fine soft wefts, and 
with open slits left where colours meet parallel with the warps. 


INTRODUCTION 5 


Of these, the most important and those that form the main sub- 
ject of this book are the Picture tapestries developed and 
brought to perfection in France and the French Netherlands 
in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The less highly 
developed tapestries, which resemble rugs, damasks, brocades 
and other figured weaves in lacking the power to express 
pictures fully and effectively on a large scale, I have grouped 
under the heading ‘‘ Primitive Tapestries’’ (Chapter IT). 

The most obvious feature of both Primitive and Perfected 
Tapestries are the open slits. It is they that especially dis- 
tinguish tapestries from damasks and brocades and other 
weaves. It is they that give tapestries the lace-like quality 
so apparent in the finest pieces (Plate XVII, f.). They are 
the most important distinguishing feature not only of Per- 
fected Tapestries, but also of Primitive Tapestries. 





CHAPTER II 
PRIMITIVE TAPESTRIES 


EGYPTIAN, GREEK, ROMAN, SARACENIC, GERMAN, PERUVIAN, CHINESE 
LITERARY EVIDENCE: HOMER, OVID, MARTIAL 


Keyrpt is the great-grandmother of us all. The oldest tap- 
estries in existence are Egyptian. In Egyptian graves have 
been preserved more ancient textiles than survive from all 
other sources previous to Gothic. 

Many of these Ancient Egyptian textiles were woven, not 
only before the time of Christ, but even before the Trojan 
War, and some of them even before the Third millenium B. C., 
when the Pyramids were built. 

Of the extant textiles that precede the Trojan War, sev- 
eral are tapestries, notably three from the grave of the Egyp- 
tian Pharaoh Thutmose IV. These pieces are described in 
Volume XV of the catalogue of the Cairo Museum. They are 
made entirely of linen, with ground in plain weave, and with 
coloured ornaments inserted in tapestry weave. 

The largest of these pieces is 11 inches high by 17 inches 
wide. The left half of it is illustrated on Plate II, a. The 
cartouche in the lower left quarter of the illustration, is that 
of Amenhotep IJ, father of Thutmose IV. On each side of 
the cartouche are sacred uraeus serpents emblematic of Egyp- 
tian royalty. The one on the right bears the white crown of 
Upper Egypt. The one on the left bears the red crown of 
Lower Egypt. The field of the tapestry is figured with alter- 
nating lotus and papyrus. The border on the left is figured 
with alternating lotus buds and flowers. 

The colours are red, blue, green, yellow, brown-black and 
eray. The reds and blues are still bright, the brown-blacks 
are mostly gone, leaving the warps bare. Both sides of the 

7 


8 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


tapestry are alike, no threads having been left floating. The 
weave shows great freedom. When helpful to the expression 
of the design, warps are curved and wefts inserted oblique to 
warp. The weft threads are considerably thicker than the 
warp threads. 

This tapestry is extraordinarily fine of texture, much finer 
than the finest Gobelins, and four or five times as fine as the 
creat Gothics. However, the excellence of tapestries does not 
depend upon fineness of texture.* We have no evidence to 
show that Perfected Tapestries were ever woven in Ancient 
Egypt. All of those that have survived belong to the Primi- 
tive group, without suggestion of an understanding of the 
picture possibilities of slits and hatchings artfully combined 
with each other and with ribs, producing the greatest con- 
trasts possible in any form of flat art. Doctor Breasted 
whose ‘‘History of Egypt’’ is a classic, and for whose scholar- 
ship and ability to humanize it in written form I have the 
most profound admiration, was misled when he wrote regard- 
ing the palace of Amenhotep: 


“The walls were covered with woven tapestry of workmanship so fine 
and colour and design so exquisite that skilled judges have declared it equal 
to the best modern work.” 


Pieces of Ancient Greek tapestry that remain are frag- 
ments of dress materials in the Museum of the Hermitage, 
from the tomb of the Seven Brothers in the Russian province 
of Kuban, on the northern shore of the Black Sea. The tomb 
dates from the third or fourth century before Christ. One of 
the fragments is figured with ducks, another with floral stripes. 
Both belong to the group of Primitive Tapestries. 

The only Ancient Roman tapestries that remain are Egyp- 
tian-Roman, woven in Egypt from the second to the fifth cen- 
turies. These are often called Coptic, Coptic being loosely 
used for Egyptian after the time of Christ and to include 


ee ee 
* The whole technique of tapestry-weaving is fully discussed in later chapters 
of this book, 


PRIMITIVE TAPESTRIES 9 


Greek-Egyptian, Greco-Roman Egyptian, Byzantine Egyp- 
tian, and even Saracenic Egyptian. Most of these Coptic 
tapestries are dress trimmings, woven in wool and linen on all- 
linen ground as part of the garment, or woven separately 
for appliqué. 

What I regard as the finest tapestry that has survived 
from the pre-Gothic period is the altar piece of which a detail 
is illustrated on Plate II, b. This tapestry is 3 feet 7 inches 
high by 4 feet 5 inches wide, and the detail illustrated is 18 
inches high. The polychrome parts, reds, greens, and green- 
blacks, are in wool; the écru parts and reddish écru flesh tones 
are in linen. The subject is Blessed Vesta (eot1a 20Av0A3os), 
with attendants (apety, mpoxony, et al.). 

This tapestry was probably an altar piece, either in a 
temple of Vesta or in a private residence. Vesta was one of 
the Great Gods of Olympus, and the eldest sister of Jupiter, 
Juno, Neptune, Pluto and Ceres. She was especially the 
divinity of the home, the virgin goddess who presided over 
the burning hearth. In her temple at Rome six Vestal Virgins 
kept the sacred fire continuously burning. 

While the design and composition of this tapestry are 
interesting, it is the superiority of weave that causes me to 
give it such high rank. Here we have a technique superior 
to that of some of the smaller Gothic tapestries of the fifteenth 
century and of many tapestries since. If I have decided to 
class it in the Primitive group, it is not from lack of apprecia- 
tion of its merits. Ifthe weaver had been guided and inspired 
by painted cartoons equal to those of the fourteenth and fif- 
teenth centuries, it is possible that he might have passed the 
line which separate Picture Tapestries of the Perfected type 
from those of the Primitive type. 

This Ancient Egyptian weaver had gone far on the road 
which leads to perfection. While his hatchings are immensely 
inferior to the hatchings developed by the French in the four- 
tenth century, and his ribs lack the definiteness and strength 


10 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


of Gothic ribs, because the warps are too close together, he 
has utilized many of the possibilities of slits. The modeling 
of the face, especially of the nose and eyebrows, 1s largely 
due to holes, intentionally and artfully introduced by the 
weaver. Note also the effective use of series of tiny slits 
in the necklace of the goddess. 

One device the weaver has employed far more freely than 
it was employed later in Gothic tapestries. Seemingly he 
worked on a loom that enabled him to have more complete 
control over the warps and their tension than is possible on 
a two-roller loom. Perhaps he was working on a loom of the 
Ancient Greek type, with pendant warps weighted at the bot- 
tom, separately or in small groups, the weights taking the 
place of the second roller. Perhaps he was working on a 
frame similar to an embroidery frame. At any rate, both 
warps and wefts show variations from the horizontal and the 
perpendicular, artfully controlled to express the design. 

It will be noticed that the shadows on the face are employed 
arbitrarily and heavily, as was the Roman fashion. This 
shadowing is interesting to compare with that of the Bosco- 
reale frescoes in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

The design of the tapestry as a whole suggests mosaic, 
which is not strange considering the widespread use of mosaic 
on floors and walls throughout the Roman Empire. 

Interesting details of the design are the halo, the pomegran- 
ates over the head of Vesta, her coiffure, the jewel on her 
forehead, her elaborate earrings and necklace. 

A wealth of the Later-Egyptian (the so-called Coptic) 
textiles, including many tapestries, is to be found in the Cairo 
Museum, Berlin Kunstgewerbe Museum, Victoria and Albert 
Museum, British Museum, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and 
Metropolitan Museum of Art. Indeed, without these Coptic 
textiles our knowledge of ancient weaves would be meager. 

Plate IT, c, with its jeweled cross in orange and yellow and 
its four blue-green ducks, and double warps exposed where 


PRIMITIVE TAPESTRIES 11 


the dark wool has disappeared, admirably illustrates the tex- 
ture of some of the cruder Coptic tapestries. The background 
is a loosely covered weft rep, and the square block of tap- 
estry insert is a well-covered warp rep. The contrast between 
the vertical ribs of the warp rep and the horizontal ribs of the 
weft rep lifts the tapestry insert into bold prominence against 
its background. The contrast is still further accentuated by 
the occasional introduction in the background of heavy ribs 
formed by grouping several wefts together. The background 
is all in natural linen. The tapestry insert is in natural linen 
and coloured wool. The tapestry insert is woven, not on the 
reeular weft threads which are allowed to float loose on the 
back, but on extra wefts blocked in on double warps. (See 
the illustration. ) 

Plate II, d, with its picture of Mercury (Greek EpmHc—= 
Hermes) is interesting to compare with Plate II, b. The 
technique of II, d, is vastly inferior to that of II, b, although 
indicating familiarity with superior weaves. It will be noticed 
that the vertical ribs of II, d, deform the face of Mercury, 
while the ribs of II, b, which are horizontal as in all important 
European tapestries, lend themselves to the accurate expres- 
sion of the outlines of the face. (Compare Plates XVII, a, aa.) 

Many of the most interesting of the later Egyptian tapes- 
tries show Saracenic influence, having been woven after the 
Mohammedan conquest of Egypt in the seventh century. 

An interesting example is that in the Victoria and Albert 
Museum (Plate IJ, da), in natural linen with design outlined 
in red silk, and with Arabic inscription also in red silk. 

Among Saracenic all-silk tapestries is one in the Cluny 
Museum, the stole of a twelfth century Bishop, found at Bay- 
onne when his tomb was opened in 1863 (No. 6526 of the cata- 
’ logue, 1883). When I first saw this tapestry in 1907, it was 
labeled ‘‘ soie brochée ’’ and was in bad condition. It has 
Arabic lettering. 

These medieval Saracenic silk tapestries, whether Spanish 


12 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


or African or Egyptian or Syrian or Persian, resemble Chi- 
nese silk tapestries in technique. I am inclined to believe 
that all western silk weaving, Egyptian and Byzantine, as well 
as Persian, received its technique largely from China. Cer- 
tainly, Saracenic silk tapestries, making allowance for the 
different style of the design, might almost have been woven by 
Chinese weavers, and like Chinese silk tapestries belong defi- 
nitely to the group of Primitive Tapestries. 

All-silk tapestries are as a rule uninteresting and apt to 
be inferior to cloths of similar design in damask, brocade or 
embroidery. Without wool, tapestry technique of great effec- 
tiveness seems impossible. 

Modern Aubusson tapestry furniture-coverings in all-silk 
are much inferior to those that have the proper proportion 
of wool. Yet many Americans seem to regard all-silk as 
a virtue. | 

Plate II, ea, shows a Chinese picture tapestry which, in 
spite of the elaboration of the design, must be classed with 
Primitive Tapestries because of the failure to employ slits 
and hatchings and ribs skilfully to force contrasts beyond 
the possibilities of paint. Indeed, Chinese tapestries are 
apt to be inferior to the paintings that inspired them, instead 
of superior. 

I noticed in looking over two of Mr. Freer’s silk tapestries 
attributed to the Sung period, that the ribs were vertical, while 
the paintings of the period that he showed me were exe- 
cuted on silk horizontally ribbed. So that there was a dis- 
tortion in the tapestry pictures that did not exist in the 
painted pictures. 

Even the Chinese tapestries inspired by Gobelin tapes- 
tries, fail to display sufficiently the virtues of tapestries of 
the Perfected group—for example, Mr. Severance’s Chinese 
tapestry illustrated and described in the Burlington M agazme 
of June 15, 1914, and the Chinese copy of a Beauvais-Boucher 
now in New York. 


PRIMITIVE TAPESTRIES 13 


Also to the Primitive group belong the German-Byzantine 
St. Gereon fragments, which are now in the Lyons Museum 
(Plate HI, e), Nuremburg Museum, Victoria and Albert 
Museum, and Berlin Kunstgewerbe Museum. These are 
copies in tapestry-weave of Byzantine silk damasks, and their 
especial merit is fidelity to the original. The design shows a 
large wheel with eagle, griffin and bull grouped inside, one on 
top of the other. The slits have been used with considerable 
skill and in a manner that indicates the remote influence of 
tapestries like Blessed Vesta. The weft is of wool, the warp 
of linen. 

Also to the Primitive group belong the German-Roman- 
esque tapestries, the most important of which are those pre- 
served in the Cathedral of Halberstadt. One of these, nearly 
square with several inches missing from the top, picturing 
Charlemagne and four Philosophers, I have illustrated on 
Plate II, f. Just as Blessed Vesta, Plate II, b, suggested 
mosaic, so this suggests primitive stained glass. Charle- 
magne (KAROLVS REX.) sits on his throne, sceptre in hand 
framed in a panel diamond-shaped. In the lower corners 
sit Cato and Seneca, with identity made certain by their names 
woven above their heads. Cato says: DENIGRAT MERITUM 
DANTIS MoRA (Delay in giving spoils the merit of the service). 
Seneca replies: QuI cIto pat BIs Dat (He who gives quickly 
gives twice). In the upper corners of the tapestry are 
Socrates and Plato, incomplete. 

Other German-Romanesque tapestries preserved in the 
Cathedral of Halberstadt are the two friezes, 3 feet 7 inches 
high, long narrow bands for hanging above the choir stalls. 
One shows Abraham and the three angels, the sacrifice of 
Isaac, the archangel Michael and the Dragon. The other 
shows Christ and the Apostles. 

At this point I should like to emphasize the fact that there 
is nothing marvelous or tremendously admirable about Primi- 
tive Tapestries. Many of them would be much more effec- 


14 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


tive in embroidery. The small silk ones would be equally 
good in damask or brocade. As for Oriental kelims, which 
since time immemorial have been woven in Asiatic Turkey, 
Persia, the Russian Caucasus, and Russian Central Asia, 
though some of the Sehnas are attractive, most of the others 
are stupid. Even the silk kelims of Persia, the wonderfully 
rich ones, with gold or silver, made in the sixteenth century 
and seventeenth century are not great works of art. The 
finest of them impress one as rather weak copies of Persian 
knotted rugs. 

The weave of Primitive Tapestries has been practiced by 
almost all primitive weavers, in almost all countries of the 
world, at all ages. It is the easiest and most natural way to 
introduce coloured figures on a loom that lacks shuttle and 
treadle, and that has not been at all developed in the direction 
of repeat and of speed. The largest group of American 
Primitive Tapestries comes from Peru. The weave resembles 
that of the more Primitive Coptic tapestries, but the designs 
are inferior. 

LITERARY EVIDENCE 


The literary evidence regarding Greek and Roman tapes- 
tries given us by Homer, Ovid, Martial and other Classic 
writers, is suggestive, but does not indicate that any Ancient 
Greek or Roman tapestries achieved the excellences which 
set European Perfected Tapestries in a class by themselves. 

In Homeric Greece, tapestry weaving was a feminine duty 
and accomplishment. Penelope wove a shroud for Laertes, 
which secretly she unraveled by night in order to postpone the 
second marriage towards which the suitors were pressing her. 
As for Helen of Troy, when Iris was sent to call her to see 
the combat between Menelaus and Paris: | 

Her in the palace at her loom she found; 
The golden web her own sad story crown’d, 


The Trojan wars she weav’d (herself the prize), 
And the dire triumphs of her fatal eyes. 


PRIMITIVE TAPESTRIES 15 


The tapestries described by Ovid as created in the famous 
weaving contest between Minerva and Arachne were evidently 
small pieces, intricate and elaborate but belonging to the 
Primitive group. Minerva, otherwise Pallas Athene, pic- 
tured the council of the Gods that met to decide from whom 
the city of Athens should receive its name. Arachne pictured 
the Loves of the Gods. Both used strong reds as well as 
lighter colours, and both used pliant threads of gold. Minerva 
introduced separate small scenes in the corner of her tapestry, 
and gave it an olive-leaf border. Arachne bordered her tapes- 
try with flowers and ivy. | 

Apparently tapestries in the period of Roman supremacy 
were distinctively the product of Egypt, while embroideries 
were distinctively the product of Mesopotamia. In the second 
half of the first century A. D. the Roman poet Martial wrote: 


“Now the needle of Babylon has been conquered by the comb of the Nile.” 


The great picture-cloths of the Early Middle Ages were 
embroideries. 





PLATH If, 2.—DETAIL OF AN ANCIENT EGYPTIAN TAPESTRY OF THE 
FIFTEENTH CENTURY B.C., FIGURED WITH LOTUS AND PAPYRUS, AND BEAR— 
ING THE NAME OF AMENHOTEP II. CAIRO MUSEUM 





PLATE II, b.—BLESSED VESTA, DETAIL OF THE FINEST SPECIMEN OF 
TAPESTRY WEAVING THAT HAS COME DOWN TO US FROM THE PRE—GOTHIC 


PERIOD. GRECO-ROMAN EGYPTIAN OF THE SECOND CENTURY A. D. 
D. G. KELEKIAN 


be as FPA ode htt) BS a a j Sig 
PERE ARAN GE PPT beet Pere: 
PRIA PIO EE PY oy teats : Me 





PLATE II, C.—-COPTIC TAPESTRY OF THE FIFTH CENTURY A. D., SHOW-— 
ING A JEWELLED CROSS IN ORANGE AND YELLOW AND FOUR BLUE-GREEN 
DUCKS INSIDE OF CIRCLE AND SQUARE. THE WHITE PARTS IN NATURAL 
LINEN, THE DARK PARTS IN COLORED WOOL. FROM AN ANCIENT TOMB AT 


AKHMIM, EGYPT. VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM. (SEE CHAPTER XVII FOR 
DISCUSSION OF THE TEXTURE) 


WOUSOW LYUGdIV GNV VIHOLOIA “AUOLNGO HLNAL 


HHL LAOMVY WOUd SALVA ‘“LdADa “LNGAWYA LY AWOL 
LNAIONY NV WOUd ‘HIIS GHU NI NOLLMINOSNI OIAVUV WOGSOW LUAGIV GNV VINOLOIA “udauod TVuOT4 


QNV ‘NTIS GauY NI GUNIILAO NdISHd HLM NGNTI VY JO AGISNI SHWYAH DNIMOHS ‘LdADa ‘WINHAV WOUd ‘ad ‘Vv 
IVUOLVN NI AULSHdVL OINDOVUVS—Bp IT ALvid AMAINGO GUIHL FHL JO AULSAdMVL O1LAOO—'p ‘II ALVId 


Pa by 








PLATE II, €.—DETAIL OF A GERMAN-BYZANTINE TENTH CENTURY TAPES— 
TRY IN IVORY AND BROWNISH BLUE WOOL, FORMERLY AT THE CHURCH OF ST. 
GEREON IN COLOGNE, NOW IN THE LYONS MUSEUM 


PLATE II, @€a.—THE DRAGON PROCESSION, A CHINESE SILK TAPESTRY 
(Kossu) WOVEN IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. ABOUT FOUR FEET WIDE. 
VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM 





PLATE II, f.—CHARLEMAGNE AND FOUR PHILOSOPHERS, A GERMAN TAPESTRY OF THE 
THIRTEENTH CENTURY IN THE CATHEDRAL OF HALBERSTADT 








AS PICTURED IN 


PLATE III, &.—PORTRAIT OF ARTHUR, ANCIENT HERO KING OF GREAT BRITAIN, 
MR. MACKAY’S UNIQUE FOURTEENTH CENTURY TAPESTRY 


CHAPTER III 


EARLY GOTHIC PICTURE TAPESTRIES 


KING ARTHUR, APOCALYPSE, PRESENTATION, ST. PIAT AND ST. 
ELEUTHERE, JOURDAIN DE BLAYE, ANNUNCIATION, HUNTING 
TAPESTRY 


France is the mother of Gothic tapestries. The develop- 
ment from Primitive to Perfected took place on high-warp 
looms in the French cities of Arras and Paris in the four- 
teenth century. During the Middle Ages, before the four- 
teenth century, damasks rivaled and embroideries surpassed 
tapestries as a medium for the interpretation of pictures. 
After the middle of the fourteenth century, tapestries became 
the form of art most prized by kings and nobles, as is shown 
by the inventories of the period. Damasks and embroideries 
and paintings were thrown far into the background. 

The fourteenth century development of tapestries was, 
however, dependent upon the fourteenth century development 
of French painting. Without strong and brilliant painted 
cartoons, tapestries like King Arthur and the Apocalypse set 
would have been impossible. 

Nevertheless, important as was the development of design, 
the development of weave was vastly more important. The 
weave is the distinctive characteristic feature of Perfected 
Tapestries. The weave distinguishes them vastly more from 
Primitive Tapestries, than does the weave of Primitive 
Tapestries distinguish Primitive Tapestries from damasks 
and brocades. 

The earliest tapestries that display fully the possibilities 
of the Perfected Tapestry weave, are Mr. Mackay’s ‘‘ King 
Arthur’’ (Plates ITT, a, and b) and the Angers ‘‘ Apocalypse’’ 
series (Plates ITI, c, ca, cb, ec, d). All of these tapestries 

17 


18 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


excel in both design and weave, and all of them also excel in 
Story interest. All of them are immeasurably superior to the 
Brussels Museum’s ‘‘Presentation,’’ (Plate III, g) and to the 
‘‘Saint Piat and Saint Eleuthére’’ series of the Cathedral of 
Tournai (Plates ITI, e, and III, f). 

The King Arthur pictured in Mr. Mackay’s tapestry is not 
the dim and uncertain King Arthur of history. He is the 
great and glorious King Arthur of the French twelfth cen- 
tury quickened into the romantic life of the period of the 
Crusades by the same French genius and French chivalric 
enthusiasm that made Charlemagne and his contemporaries 
live again in the ‘‘Chanson de Roland’? and other chansons 
de geste. Perhaps never was history brought down to earth 
and contemporized to the same extent as by medieval French- 
men. Charlemagne and Arthur and David and Hector were 
represented as real contemporary personages, clad in Medie- 
val costumes, living in Medieval fashion, talking Medieval 
French. Such was the inventive art of French poets in the 
eleventh and twelfth centuries, who were trammeled by facts 
quite as little as the scenario composers of to-day. 

Typical creations of Medieval romance are the Nine 
Preux (Heroes) 

I. Three Bible heroes, Joshua, David, Judas Maccabeus. 

II. Three Pagan heroes, Hector, Alexander, Caesar. 

III. Three Christian heroes, Arthur, Charlemagne, Godfrey de Bouillon. 

Inventories and other literary records show that the Nine 
Preux were a favorite subject of tapestry makers in the four- 
teenth and fifteenth centuries. Charles V, King of France 
from 1364 to 1380 had two tapestries picturing the Nine 
Heroes, and his brother Louis, Duke of Anjou, had one. Simi- 
lar tapestries were also owned by the King’s other brothers, 
the Dukes of Burgundy and Berri, but with a tenth Preux 
added, the contemporary Hero of the war against England, 
Bertrand du Guesclin. 

One of the earliest pictured representations of the Nine 


EARLY GOTHIC PICTURE TAPESTRIES 19 


Preux that have survived is in a manuscript of the Bibliotheque 
Nationale, containing arms of the French Nobility. The 
author was Gilles de Bouvier, called Berry, who was appointed 
Herald to Charles VII in 1420. At the end of the volume are 
three large wood engravings (Plates XVIII, a, aa, ab) each 
occupying a double quarto page, each showing three of the 
Nine Preux on horseback, each Preux under a separate arch. 
These engravings, slightly illuminated and contemporary 
with the manuscript of which they seem always to have been 
a part, give the Preux costumes and armor like those of the 
contemporary French Nobility. Each one of the Preux has 
below him a six line stanza with letters engraved on the same 
wood block as the pictures. 
The verses that describe Arthur are: 

Je fu roy de Bretaigne, d’Escoche et d’Engleterre. 

Maint roialme je vos par ma force conquerre. 

Le grant gaiant Zusto fis morir et deffaire. 

Sus le mont saint Miciel 1 aultre en alai querre. 


Je vis le sang Greal, mes la mort me fist guerre, 
Qui m’ochit ve ans puis que Dieu vint sur terre. 


which as translated reads: 


I was King of Britanny, Scotland and England. 
Many a realm I sought by my strength to conquer. 
The great giant Zusto I killed and defeated. 

Upon mount Saint Michel another I went to seek. 
I saw the Holy Grail. Then death made war on me, 
And killed me 600 years after God came on earth. 


As the king of three countries, Britanny, Scotland and 
England, Arthur had on his coat-of-arms three crowns, the 
three crowns that are shown on his breast as well as on his 
pennant, in Mr. Mackay’s tapestry. 

Among Late Gothic tapestries showing Arthur with this 
coat-of-arms are, the ‘‘Triumph of Christ’’ in the Brussels 
Museum (Plate 370 of Hunter 1912); the duplicate ‘‘Triumph 
of Christ”’ in the collection of the Saragossa Cathedrals; ‘‘The 


20 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


Story of Charlemagne’’ in the collection of Mr. George Blum- 
enthal (Plate 371 of Hunter 1912); the fragment of a Swiss 
Nine Preux tapestry in the Bale Museum. (Plate XIV, c.) 
King Arthur also appears with his three crowns in the crude 
French Renaissance series of Preux from Saint Maixent, now 
in the Chateau de Langeais. There are several duplicates, or 
near duplicates, of these Saint Maixent tapestries now 
in America. 

~The weave of Mr. Mackay’s ‘‘King Arthur’ is splendid. 
King Arthur’s face is delineated with an art difficult to equal 
and impossible to surpass, (See Plate III, a). While the tech- 
nique does not possess some of the refinements of the greatest 
Late Gothic gold tapestries, it makes stronger, bolder and 
more effective use than they of slits and stepped slits. Note 
carefully the black holes, in the actual tapestry vastly blacker 
and deeper and stronger than any painted holes could be, 
which model King Arthur’s brow and eyes and nose 
and separate his fingers. Those that give actuality to 
King Arthur’s beard and hair and jeweled crown, though 
quite as important, are unfortunately not equally clear in 
our illustration. 

The composition of the tapestry is simple and effective, 
and completely architectural. Fourteenth century Gothic 
columns and arches and canopies frame each of the seven per- 
sonages. The superior dignity of Arthur is emphasized by 
his superior size, the lesser characters occupying only half 
the vertical space alloted to him. The resemblance between 
Arthur and the two-story personages who introduce the 
Apocalypse tapestries is striking. 

Just as the main personage in each tapestry of the Apoc- 
alypse set oceupies the full height of the tapestry, while 
the other scenes are in two rows one above the other, so here, 
Arthur oceupies the full height of the tapestry, and on each 
side of him are lesser personages arranged in double tier; 
above, two archbishons standing in the balconies with arch- 


EARLY GOTHIC PICTURE TAPESTRIES 21 


episcopal cross on staff; below, two bishops seated with 
episcopal crozier (derived not from the cross but from the 
shepherd’s staff). 

Noteworthy are the jewels displayed by the bishops and 
archbishops, on their mitres, fastening their cloaks, and on 
the backs of their hands. 

Arthur, like the two lesser warriors on the extreme left, 
has along flowing beard and long wavy hair of the same type as 
seen on the personages of the Apocalypse. 

All in all, the resemblance between the King Arthur tapes- 
try and the Apocalypse series is so close as to compel one to 
believe that they were woven under similar conditions at 
about the same time, probably in the same place. 


THE ANGERS APOCALYPSE 


One of the greatest art treasures in the world is the Apoc- 
alypse set of French Gothic tapestries at Angers (Plates 
III, e and d). It is the only fourteenth century set that 
remains. All the other famous sets mentioned in the inven- 
tories of the period have disappeared. 

Fortunately, as a result of the studies of Farcy and Guif- 
frey, we have much information about the orgin of these tap- 
estries (see Farcy Angers, and Guiffrey Seiziéme). The Duke 
of Anjou, brother of Charles V, King of France, had them 
made in Paris by Nicolas Bataille in the last half of the four- 
teenth century, to hang in the chapel of his chateau at Angers. 
The cartoonist was Hennequin de Bruges, also called Jean de 
Bruges, Charles V’s court painter, whom the Duke of Anjou 
borrowed for the purpose, together with an illustrated manu- 
script of the Apocalypse, which is now in the public library of 
the city of Cambrai. The painter received instructions to 
follow the manuscript illustrations closely, and did so, execut- 
ing the cartoons on large pieces of canvas. 

Originally there were ninety separate and distinct, scenes, 
divided among seven tapestries. Five of the tapestries had 


22 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


on the left a bearded personage reading (Plate III, d), with 
fourteen scenes extending in double row to the right (Plates 
III, ¢, ca, cb, cc). What might have been a sixth tapestry of the 
same size and arrangement was woven in two separate pieces. 

Originally the tapestries were eighteen feet high with a 
combined length of 472 feet. To-day they are worn away 
at the top, bottom and in the middle, so that the height is only 
fourteen feet. Of the original ninety scenes, seventy remain 
intact, and there are fragments of eight others, while twelve 
have entirely disappeared. The present total length is 328 feet. 

In 1480, the tapestries were presented to the Cathedral of 
Angers by King René of Anjou, and for several centuries were 
proudly displayed on great occasions. But when tapestries, 
especially Gothic tapestries, went out of fashion at the end 
of the eighteenth century, the canons of the Cathedral decided 
to sell what was no longer useful. Unable to find a purchaser 
they retained them against their will. They even regarded 
them so lightly as to turn them over to base uses, spreading 
them over the orange trees in the greenhouse to keep these 
from being frostbitten, cutting some of them up into rugs, nail- 
ing strips of one on the stalls of the Bishop’s stable to prevent 
his horses from bruising themselves. Not until the middle of 
the nineteenth century did anyone seem to suspect. that these 
old rags might really be of some artistic importance. To-day, 
they are again regarded as the Cathedral’s greatest treasure, 
to see which art lovers make pilgrimages from all over 
the world. 

The details of the four scenes illustrated on Plates IIT, e, 
ca, cb, cc, are fascinating and give one a new idea of what 
people in the fourteenth century thought Saint John meant 
when he wrote the New Testament book of Revelation. Plate 
III, ce, is based on verses 17 and 18 of Chapter XII: 

And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with 


the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the 
testimony of Jesus Christ. And he stood upon the sand of the sea. 


EARLY GOTHIC PICTURE TAPESTRIES 23 


Saint John on the left, book in hand, watches the combat 
between the dragon and the faithful. The vegetation and 
trees are interesting as an early example of what was to be 
so richly developed in the Country Life tapestries of the fif- 
teenth century. The /m monogram scattered thickly over 
the background perpetuates the memory of Louis, Duke of 
Anjou and Marie de Bretagne, his wife. 

Plate III, ca (at the right of Plate III, c) is based on verse 
1 of Chapter XI: 


And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, 
saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that 
worship therein. 


The ruler that the angel gives Saint John is like those 
employed by Medieval architects. The altar that Saint John 
is to measure is a splendid piece of cabinet work, of exquisite 
design, the arches and ornamentations of which have been 
forced into extraordinary distinctness by the use of stepped 
slits combined with strong hatchings contrasting boldly with 
the horizontal ribs. 

Plate III, cb, (below Plate ITI, c) is based on verses 9, 10 
and 11 of Chapter IV: 


And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that 
sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, the four and twenty elders 
fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth 
for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, thou art 
worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast 
created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. 


Saint John on the left looking out of his Gothic pavilion, 
sees the twenty-four aged kings prostrate themselves before 
Christ. Note the starred background of the pointed oval that 
enshrines the figure of Christ. Note also the halos of Saint 
John and of Christ. 

Plate III, cc, is based on verses 14, 15 and 16 of Chap- 
ter XIV: 


24 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like 
unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a 
sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud 
voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the 
time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And he 
that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was 
reaped. 


An interesting feature of the scenes as originally placed in 
the tapestries, is that the coloured grounds alternated red and 
blue. Below the double row of scenes was vegetation. Above 
the double row of scenes were clouds. Below each scene were 
the verses on which it was based. 

Of the Brussels —Museu'm’s Presentation (Plate 37 of 
Hunter 1912), contemporary with King Arthur and the Apoc- 
alypse, I have illustrated a detail, the head of Saint Joseph, 
on Plate III, g. Although the tapestry has many of the 
infirmities of great age, it still shows marvelous technical 
ability on the part of the weaver. ‘The slits and stepped slits 
force the modeling of Saint Joseph’s face and hands boldly 
forth, and the hatchings of his robe are boldly and effectively 
placed. The tapestry was discovered by a Spanish painter 
Sefior Leo y Heosura whose studio it long adorned. It 
attracted much attention at the Paris Tapestry Exposition 
of 1876 and at the Exposition des Primitifs Franeais of 1904. 


ARRAS AND ARAZZI 


While the French city of Arras gave its name to tapestries, 
in the English arras, the Italian arazzi, and the Spanish paftos 
de ras, and must have been the most famous centre of tapestry 
weaving, at least for export, in the fourteenth and early fif- 
teenth centuries, there remains only one small set of Gothic 
tapestries which we can positively and definitely attribute to it. 
This set is the one at the Cathedral of Tournai, picturing the 
lives and miracles of the locally famous Saints Piat and 
Eleuthéere (Plates ITI, e, f). 


EARLY GOTHIC PICTURE TAPESTRIES 25 


Of the original 18 scenes, only 15 are left, 6 feet 10 inches 
high with combined length of 71 feet 8inches. They are badly 
hung with later and inappropriate border above and below, 
and need cleaning and repairing. 

The two scenes illustrated on Plate III, e, are from the life 
of Saint Eleuthére, on the left, Baptising Pagans; on the right, 
Departure for Rome. The inscription on the left reads: 


When all the Christians of Tournai were crushed, many pagans had 
themselves baptised in the name of God in the place called Elandaing. 


The inscription over the right reads: 


Dead is the bishop of Tournai. Wherefore the Christians of Tournai 
of true heart send Saint Eleuthére to Rome, and wish no other bishop. 


Even on Plate III, e, can be discerned some of the slits 
that give strength to the design, especially on the horses’ 
manes, while the texture detail on the page opposite brings 
vividly to the eye the skill with which weavers then employed 
hatchings to model roofs, and slits to outline the hoops of 
barrels, and the lines of buildings. The trees too get their 
reality from slits aptly placed. 

Compared with King Arthur and the Apocalypse, however, 
the series of Saint Piat and Saint Hleuthére is inferior in both 
design and weave. So that if we had to judge the merits of 
Arras and Paris as ancient tapestry weaving centres by the 
examples that have survived, Arras would not be in the run- 
ning. But if we are to decide on the evidence of the literary 
records, the two cities rank side by side. One fact is certain, 
we do not know enough about Paris and Arras ancient Gothic 
weaves to be able to tell them apart. All we are justified in 
saying is that King Arthur is most like the Apocalypse, which 
we know from literary records was woven at Paris while the 
tapestry illustrated on Plate ITI, h, is most like Saint Piat 
and Saint Eleuthére, which we know was woven at Arras in 
1402, because one of the missing scenes bore an inscription 
saying’ so. 


26 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


JOURDAIN DE BLAYE 


The tapestry illustrated on Plate III, h, is the first of a set 
of tapestries based on a thirteenth century chanson de geste 
that tells the story of Jourdain de Blaye. In the tapestry we 
see Fromont welcomed at Blaye by his nephew Girard whom 
he had come to assassinate. The second stanza of the inscrip- 
tion says: 

“See Fromont coming by water in ships from Bordeaux to Blaye for the 
purpose of betraying Girard.” 


In the first stanza of the inscription the whole of the story 
of Jourdain de Blaye is suggested, how Fromont assassinated 
Girard, and tried to get hold of Girard’s son Jourdain, who 
had been given into the keeping of Girard’s faithful follower 
Renier; how Renier delivered his own son to die in Jourdain’s 
place, and brought up Jourdain as his own son; how Jourdain, 
learning the secret of his birth when he grew up, avenged the 
death of his father by killing Fromont, and recovered his 
paternal estates that had been seized by Fromont. 

Blaye, it should be remarked, is a French town on the 
Gironde, about twenty-five miles from Bordeaux, famous in the 
Middle Ages for possessing the tombs of Roland and Oliver, 
and the beautiful Aude. The floriation and animals of this 
tapestry are interesting to compare with those of the Sara- 
gossa Crucifixion (Plate IV, e, ea), which was woven a 
little later. 

Mrs. Harold Pratt’s Annunciation illustrated on Plate 
ITT, i, combines excellence of design with perfection of weave. 
It marks a distinct advance in the development of tapestry art. 
The weave of the architecture, the foliage (Plate XVII, c), 
of Gabriel’s wings, of the Virgin’s hair and halo, shows refine- 
ments that are a liberal education in the possibilities of tapes- 
try technique. The texture effects are extraordinarily real. 
The surfaces of different materials stand apart from each other 
as in nature. Flesh and foliage and wood and pottery and 


EARLY GOTHIC PICTURE TAPESTRIES 27 


marble and draperies retain their distinctive qualities. The 
contrasts are far beyond the power of a painter’s brush. 

A glorious hunting tapestry is that of which two details 
are illustrated on Plate III, k, ka. Personages and horses 
and dogs and wild boar and other animals are warm with 
life. The modeling of horses and draperies by the use of 
hatchings is vigorous. 

The tapestry illustrated on Plate III, j, is the Teast and 
best of its group, of which there are ee: in the Musée des 
Arts Décoratifs, one in the Louvre, one in the Victoria and 
Albert Museum, one in the collection of Mr. Frederick Pratt, 
one in Mr. Kahn’s collection. Only the middle part of those 
in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs is original, the top and bot- 
tom being restorations badly done. But the personages mak- 
ing love and music and courteously picnicking by brook and 
among trees are full of grace, with adorable costumes. The 
one in Mr. Pratt’s collection is an immediate ancestor of the 
‘Training the Falcon’’ tapestry illustrated on Plate VI, k, 
and was illustrated and described by my friend Joseph 
Destrée in 1912 in the Annales de la Société Royale d’Arch- 
éologie de Bruxelles. Mr. Kahn’s is almost entirely silk 
enriched with gold. It may be of a little later date than the 
style of its foliage, being a provincial product, as is indicated 
by the ecrudity of design of the faces of John the Baptist, 
Saint Martin, and Saint Hugo. The foliage and birds and 
flowing waters of the duck-laden brook show great skill on the 
part of the weaver, and great freedom in the manipulation of 
wefts which are often curved and given irregular angles. 





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PLATE III, b.—KING ARTHUR, EARLY GOTHIC TAPESTRY OF MR. CLARENCE H. MACKAY, MADE AT PARIS IN 
THE LAST QUARTER OF THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY 


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PLATE III, h—SCENE FROM THE STORY OF JOURDAIN DE BLAYE, AN EARLY GOTHIC TAPESTRY IN 
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PLATE III, 1.—ANNUNCIATION, EARLY GOTHIC TAPESTRY OF MRS. HAROLD I. PRATT 





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EXTRAORDINARY GOTHIC TAPESTRY ‘‘THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS’”’ 


BAPTIS 


FIFTEENTH CENTURY 


(easier eeN a 


PLATE IV, a 





CHAPTER IV 
GOTHIC RELIGIOUS AND ALLEGORICAL TAPESTRIES 


CREDO AND SALVATION, PRODIGAL SON, VIRTUES AND VICES, SIBYLS 
CRUCIFIXION AND PASSION, SEVEN SACRAMENTS, HOLY CROSS, MAGI 
TRAJAN AND HERKINBALD, JERUSALEM, ESTHER, JEPTHAH, DAVID 
SUSANNA, JUDITH, JOSEPH, PETER, FRENCH PROVINCIAL, TRIUMPHS 
OF PETRARCH, BANQUET AND SUPPER, THE CERF FRAGILLE 


Tne Gothic centuries were Christian centuries. Not only 
Gothic religion but also Gothic history and romance and art 
were passionately Christian. 

To the Gothic centuries, all the ancient world before 
Christ was the Old Dispensation, and all the world after Christ 
was the New Dispensation. The wise men of the Old Dis- 
pensation were the Prophets; the wise men of the New Dispen- 
sation were the Apostles. Christian priests and theologians 
of the Middle Ages searched the Old Testament, phrase by 
phrase for verses that might seem to foreshadow or foretell 
the events of the New Testament. They crowned their efforts 
by dividing the Apostles’ Creed into twelve articles, one for 
each of the Apostles, and matching the Apostles with Prophets 
displaying Latin inscriptions prophetic of the Creed. 

For example, the first article of the Creed, Credo in deum 
omnipotentem, creatorem coels et terrae, fell to the apostle 
Peter. The corresponding prophet was Jeremiah with, Pat- 
rem invocabitis qui terram fecit et condidit coelum. 

The entire list of Credo Apostles and Prophets as it 
appears in an ancient illustrated manuscript (Mdle Fifteenth, 
page 261) is as follows: 


29 


30 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


I. God the Father (Creation) Peter Jeremiah 
Il. Jesus Christ (Baptism) Andrew David 
III. Virgin Mary (Nativity) James the Greater Isaiah 
IV. Crucifixion John Daniel 
V. Descent into Hell and Resur- Thomas Hosea 
rection | 
VI. Ascension James the Less Amos 
VII. Last Judgment Philip Zephaniah 
VIII. Holy Spirit Bartholomew Joel 
IX. Holy Catholic Church Matthew Micah 
X. Remission of Sins Simon Malachi 
XI. Resurrection of the Flesh Thaddeus (Jude) Zechariah 
XII. Life Everlasting Matthias Ezekiel 


CREDO TAPESTRIES 


I do not know of any complete set of Credo tapestries, con- 
taining all the articles. Possibly the last six articles of the 
Creed were never included. At any rate, the Credo tapes- 
tries listed below include only the first six articles. But in 
a single tapestry of the Hearst-Morgan collection (Plate XIX 
of Ricct Morgan), crude and provincial in design and weave, 
the entire Credo is pictured, in fifteen scenes, without prophets 
or apostles or inscriptions. 

1. The Boston Credo (Plate IV, g) pictures the first four articles of the Creed. 

2. The Duveen Credo pictures the second three. 

3. The Leo XIII Credo pictures the first three. 

4. The three Demotte fragments picture the first, parts of the second, the 
whole of the third, part of the fifth, the whole of the sixth. Two of 
these fragments were part of a tapestry picturing the first three articles, 
while the third fragment was part of a tapestry picturing the second 
three articles. 

Of these tapestries the Demotte fragments are the latest 
(about 1510), the Leo XIII Credo the earliest (about 1475). 

Hach tapestry of the Credo group contains several scenes 
from the Credo, with an Apostle in the lower corner of each 
scene facing a Prophet in the opposite corner. For example, 
the Boston Credo (Plate IV, g) has four scenes, with a 
prophet in the lower left corner of each scene, and an apostle 


GOTHIC RELIGIOUS, ALLEGORICAL TAPESTRIES | 31 


in the lower right corner of each scene, four prophets and four 
apostles in all. 

While the Boston Credo pictures the first four articles of the 
the Apostles’ Creed (Creation, Baptism, Nativity, Crucifixion), 
the Duveen Credo pictures only the second three (Crucifixion, 
Resurrection, Ascension), but with several subordinate 
scenes one of which is shown on Plate IV, h. These scenes 
subordinate to Crucifixion are: (1) Pilate washing his 
hands (2) Christ staggering with the Cross, with Envy pull- 
ing him roughly along, and Humility and Charity regarding 
pitifully (8) the Entombment. The scenes subordinate to 
Resurrection are: (1) Christ opening the gates of Hell (2) 
Christ followed by the released Prophets and Patriarchs, 
meeting Elijah and Enoch at the gates of Heaven. The 
scenes subordinate to Ascension are: (1) Christ taking leave 
of his Mother (Plate IV, h) (2) Christ in Heaven seated at 
the right hand of the Father Almighty, with the Holy Spirit 
at the left hand. The Boston Credo has no subordinate scenes. 

The article of the Creed common to the Boston and the 
Duveen tapestries is Crucifixion. In both tapestries we have 
John as the Crucifixion apostle; but in the Boston tapestry we 
have Isaiah as the Crucifixion prophet, while in the Duveen 
tapestry we have Zechariah, and the ancient illustrated manu- 
script I quoted above presents Daniel as the personage. So 
it is evident there was considerable difference of opinion 
regarding who actually was the Crucifixion prophet. 

Let us turn again to the Boston Credo (Plate IV, g). In 
the lower left corner of the four scenes (1) Creation (2) 
Baptism (3) Nativity (4) Crucifixion, we have the four 
Prophets (1) Jeremiah (2) Daniel (3) Isaiah (4) Hosea. In 
the lower right corner of the four scenes, we have the four 
Apostles (1) Peter (2) Andrew (3) James the Greater 
(4) John. 

Each of the four Apostles bears his article of the Creed. 
For example: 


32 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


(4) John, Crucifixion, Passus sub poncio pylato. crucifixus. 
mortuus et sepultus, johannes. 

Each of the four Prophets bears his prophetic text. For 
example: 

(4) Hosea, Crucifixion (Hos. XIII, 14), O mors ero mors 
tua. morsus tuus ero inferne (O Death I will be thy death; 
O grave I will be thy destruction. 

It is interesting to note that in the Boston Credo the 
scene selected to illustrate Creation is the ‘‘ Birth of Eve from 
the rib of Adam.’’ The Creation scene of the Leo XIII Credo 
is much more comprehensive. 


THE SALVATION GROUP 


Of the salvation group I have illustrated five, two of which 
are in the collection of Mr. William Randolph Hearst (Plates 
IV,7, 7a), one in the Chateau de Haar (Plate IV, 7), one in the 
Louvre (Plate IV, jb), and one at Hampton Court (Plate IV, 
k, ka). The first four of these were formerly in the famous 
Berwick and Alba collection offered for sale in Paris in 187 i 
(See the illustrated catalogue). 

At this point, I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness to 
Mr. D. T. B. Wood for his splendid articles on the Salvation 
and Credo tapestries, published in the Burlington Magazine in 
1912 and 1914. His was the first serious attempt to bring 
order out of chaos. 

The most important tapestries of the Salvation group 
still in existence are: 


1. Creation. Haar-Alba (Plate 281 of Hunter 1912). Uearst-Toledo. 

2. Redemption, design A. Hampton Court (Plates IV, k, ka). Burgos, 
Morgan-Knole (the left half). 

2. Redemption, design B. Palencia. Hearst-Toledo. Saragossa. 

3. Baptism. Hearst-Alba (Plate IV, j). Palencia. Hampton Court-Anglesey 
(the right half, Plate 17, Hunter 1912). 

4. Nativity, design A. Burgos. 

. Nativity, design B. Palencia. Demotte (almost complete in two frag- 

ments). 


aN 


GOTHIC RELIGIOUS, ALLEGORICAL TAPESTRIES = 33 


5. Crucifixion. Haar-Alba (Plate IV, i). Hearst-Toledo. Burgos. 
6. Resurrection. Hearst-Alba. Hearst-Toledo. 

7. Ascension. Haar-Alba (Plate IV, ja). Palencia. 

8. Last Judgment. Louvre-Alba (Plate IV, jb). Demotte. 


Among small fragments are one from Creation in the 
C. B. Alexander collection; one from Redemption in the Kele- 
kian collection and another in the Victoria and Albert Museum; 
one from Crucifixion in the Lawrence collection sold at auction 
in New York, 1920. 

The plan of the Salvation group is radically different from 
that of the Credo group. Each Salvation tapestry has only 
two Prophets and no Apostles (Plates IV, i, j, ja, k, ka). 
For example, the Chateau de Haar Crucifixion (Plate IV, i) 
has in the lower left corner Isaiah with the inscription (/sas. 
XXXV, 4), Ipse vemet et salvabit vos, and in the lower right 
corner Zechariah with the inscription (Zech. XIII, 6), Hrs 
plagatus swm, there wrongly attributed to Isate XIII. The 
Hampton Court Redemption has on the left Jeremiah with the 
inscription (Jer. LX, 21), Ascendit mors per fenestras, and on 
the right Moses with the inscription (Deut. XX XT, 41), Red- 
dam ulcionem hostibus. The Hearst-Toledo Redemption has 
on the left a prophet with scroll fast rolled up in his hand, and 
on the right Jeremiah with the inscription (Jer. IV, 1), Evice 
illos e facie mea (Cast them out of my sight). 


BAPTISM 


Each Salvation tapestry also has several subordinate 
scenes supplementing and explaining the titular scene, which 
does not always occupy the centre of the tapestry or have the 
prominence one might expect. For example, the titular scene 
of Baptism (Plate IV, j) is on the left, ‘‘Christ baptized by 
John the Baptist, with God in Heaven above.’’ On the right 
of the titular scene, John preaches to Homo, Natura, Abraham, 
ete., while on the left Salome receives John’s head. The 
middle of the tapestry is occupied by the Resurrection of 


34 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


Lazarus, which is symbolic of Baptism that is regarded as a 
sacrament conferring New Life. In the lower corners are 
prophets as usual. The one on the right is David with a 
Latin inscription which translated reads: (Psalms XLV, 4) 
‘¢‘Gird thyself with thy sword upon thy thigh, O thou most 
mighty.’’ On the left of David are grouped beautiful, crowned 
ladies symbolic of the Virtues and Vices. The Virtue with 
shield bearing the pelican that gives its blood for its 
young, just as Christ gave his blood for Humanity, is Charity. 
With her left hand she points to the scene in the tower where 
Judas sells His Master for thirty pieces of silver, while her 
right hand passes the gauntlet of combat to the Seven Vices, 
among them imvidia (Envy) who receives the gauntlet, 
superbia (Pride), and luxuria (Luxury). On the right of the 
Judas scene, the Tempter with a spiked club holds as prisoners 
natura (Nature) in chains, homo (man), Jan (John the Bap- . 
tist), Abraha (Abraham). Still farther to the right, in the 
upper right corner of the tapestry, Christ as a Christian 
knight in armor receives from Charity a banner bearing the 
Five Wounds, and from Humility a helmet with Crown 
of Thorns. 
CRUCIFIXION 

The continuation of this last scene is found in Crucifixion 
(Plate IV, i) where Christ as a Christian knight in armor, and 
mounted, leads the Virtues in battle against the Vices. As 
this battle indicates, Gothic Christianity is full of Symbolism. 
The Crucifixion, to the Christian mind, was to be taken not 
only literally, but also symbolically. It was to be regarded 
not only as the Passion of Christ but also as the Battle of 
Christ, in the glorious struggle of Good against Evil. The 
scrolls held by the angels on each side of the Cross in our 
Crucifixion tapestry bear an inscription reading: Pange, 
lingua, gloriosi prelium certaminis (Sing, tongue, the battle 
of the glorious conflict), which is the first line of a Latin hymn 
composed in the sixth century A. D. by Fortunatus, Bishop of 


GOTHIC RELIGIOUS, ALLEGORICAL TAPESTRIES. = 35 


Poitiers. The second line of the hymn is: ‘‘ Describe the noble 
triumph on the Cross, symbolic.’’ 

The seven Virtues that attend the armored Christ are 
Affection, Humility with a cross, Patience, Chastity holding 
a lily and riding a mule, Sobriety, Devotion to God riding a 
deer, Charity riding a lion and pouring freely from her pitcher. 
The seven Vices opposing Christ are: Pride mounted on a 
camel, brandishing a sword, and crested with a peacock; Envy 
with flaming spear, mounted on a dragon of hideous mien; 
Avarice carrying a rake and riding a goat; Luxury, holding a 
mirror and riding a pig, with a nude woman pictured on her 
shield; Laziness, Anger, and another. 

In the lower corners of the the tapestry are the two 
prophets: on the left, Isaiah whose scroll reads, (Isaiah, 
XXXV, 4) Ecce veniet et salvabit vos (Behold he will come 
and save you); on the right Zechariah, whose scroll reads 
(Zech. XIII, 6), His plagatus sum (Those with which I was 
wounded). The verse refers to the wounds of Christ, and the 
meaning is made clear by quoting the whole: ‘‘And one 
shall say unto him, what are these wounds in thine hands? 
Then he shall answer, those with which I was wounded in the 
house of my friends.’’ 

In the upper corner of the tapestry are two allegorical 
figures representing the two Testaments that by Christ were 
reconciled: on the left, standing on Mount Sinai, the Old 
Testament (vetus testamentum), with banner bearing the 
Mosaic tables several times repeated, pendant from her 
trumpet; on the right, the New Testament (novwm testa- 
mentum), with banner bearing the Cup of the Eucharist. 


REDEMPTION 


The most human tapestry of the Salvation group is 
Redemption. It comes in two different designs. The Hamp- 
ton Court and Burgos Redemptions have design A; the Palen- 
cia, Hearst-Toledo and Saragossa Redemptions have design B. 


36 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


The upper middle part of design A (Plate IV, k, ka) is 
occupied by the enthroned Trinity, surrounded by angels, and 
with clouds separating them from the Earth below. The 
Trinity are represented as three crowned kings, with sceptre 
and symbolic globe, all alike except that the globe of Christ is 
underfoot in sign of Humility, and His sceptre pointed down 
in sign of Mercy. 

Just below the Trinity, we see the Virtues arguing for and 
against Man, Mercy and Peace opposing Justice and Truth. 
Justice carries a sword, Truth a book, Mercy a lily branch, 
Peace an olive branch. This is the famous ‘‘Paradise Law 
Suit’’ so often presented on the stage in the fifteenth century. 
It was the vital and introductory act of Arnoul Greban’s 
famous Passion. Adam in Purgatory prays God for release. 
Justice in Heaven maintains that Man does not deserve pity. 
Mercy admits that Man has sinned but pleads extenuating 
circumstances. The case after long argument is finally won 
by Merey, and God consents to sacrifice his only Son for 
the Salvation of Man. Then follows the Annunciation. 

At the left of the Trinity scene is a Gothic pavilion, the 
Temple of the Virtues, two of whom display a picture sym- 
bolic of Luxury, which is also illustrated by the group still 
farther to the left. | 

At the right of the Trinity, homo (man) is assailed by the 
three armored Vices, luxuria (Luxury) who pierces his heart, 
avaricia (Avarice), gula (Gluttony), and by temptator (the 
Tempter) with trumpet, and is defended by spes (Hope). 

Still farther to the right, sits Christ attended by the 
Virtues. 

In the foreground of the tapestry, on the left, Mercy 
restrains Justice from running her sword into Man who has 
fallen a victim to luxuria (Luxury) and other Vices. In the 
foreground, on the right, Man is made a Christian knight by 
the Virtues, gracia dei (Grace of God) giving him a breast- 


GOTHIC RELIGIOUS, ALLEGORICAL TAPESTRIES . 37 


plate, and pax (Peace) giving him a helmet, while misericordia 
(Mercy) administers the oath. 

The prophets in the lower corners of the tapestry are: 
Jeremiah at the left with (Jer. LX, 21) ascendit mors per 
fenestras (Death is come up unto our windows); and Moses 
on the right with (Deut. XXXII, 41) reddam ulcionem hosti- 
bus (I will render vengeance to mine enemies). 

Design B is utterly unlike design A. The Trinity scene 
much modified has been transferred to the left of the tapestry 
and its place in the middle is taken by the enthroned Vices. 
Between the two thrones is Man seated beside Nature while 
Work offers him a shovel, Nature of course being the part of 
Man that tends to lead him astray unless restrained by Work. 
Beneath the enthroned Vices is the Tempter scene. In the 
upper right corner of the tapestry, Luxury sits enthroned 
alone, immodestly unclothed for conquest, while Man is con- 
ducted towards her by Flesh, Nature, Sin, and Enticement. 
Pleasure sits at the right of the throne. The prophets in 
design B are Jeremiah on the left (Jer. XV, 1) Evice iallos e 
facie mea (Cast them out of my sight), and David on the right 
with scroll not yet unrolled. 


L’UN ET L’AUTRE 


The famous Paradise Law Suit mentioned above was 
sometimes developed and presented separately (Page 425 of 
Volume II of Julleville Mystéres). The ‘‘Law Suit between 
Mercy and Justice,’’ a short mystery of about 2000 verses, 
though copied largely from Greban’s Passion, is evidently an 
attempt at rejuvenation, and contains some new elements. 
The action opens with a dialogue inspired by Lucretius rather 
than by the Bible. Harth begins by explaining magnilo- 
quently the secrets of germination performed in her breast 
by Nature. Two tiny nude personages, l’wn and l’autre 
(lower left quarter of a Late Gothic Tournai tapestry belong- 
ing to Bernheimer of Munich, and illustrated on Plate XIV 


38 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


of Koch Kunstwerke) complain to the Earth that they have 
been thrown into the world naked. THarth explains that it is 
the fault of Adam. Suddenly are heard the groans of Adam 
in Purgatory, and the scene changes to Heaven. 


NATIVITY 


The design of the Burgos Nativity is utterly unlike that 
of the Palencia Nativity. The Nativity scene is on the right 
of the Burgos panel but in the middle of the Palencia panel. 
Scenes of the Palencia panel that do not appear in the Burgos 
panel are: the Circumcision of Jesus, Augustus and the Sibyl, 
the Presentation of Jesus, the Meeting of Jesus and John the 
Baptist as Children. The Demotte Nativity, in two frag- 
ments, is like the Palencia Nativity. 


STORY OF MAN 


A splendid tapestry in the Stroganoff collection, Rome, - 
presents the Story of Man in four scenes. In the upper cor- 
ners trumpeting angels celebrate Man’s eventual victory. 
Scene one shows homo (Man) consecrated to Christian life by 
a bishop, while Virtues look approvingly on. In Scene two, 
Man in armor with a wealth of plumes springing from his 
helmet and bearing a lily branch, sets forth encouraged by 
fortitudo (Bravery) and sapiencia (Wisdom) but discour- 
aged by invidia (Envy). In Scene three, we see pictured 
the struggle between Good and Bad in Man as represented by 
Virtues and Vices. In Scene four, Man having fought the 
good fight, kneels before the Trinity, while angels with organ, 
and from manuscript music, make sweet harmony. 


MUSIC AND DANCING 


Among other tapestries without prophets developed from 
the Redemption subject are two in the Saragossa cathedrals, 
one with Musie, the other with Dancing, as the principal sub- 
ject. Music shows Christ enthroned in Heaven, with Mercy 


GOTHIC RELIGIOUS, ALLEGORICAL TAPESTRIES 39 


and Peace opposing Justice and Truth in the Earth below, 
but the main and titular scene consists of a group of musicians 
attacked by Justice. The musician in most immediate danger 
is Man with a flute, but the lady with the mandolin is evi- 
dently frightened. The lady at the organ, the lady with the 
harp, and the man with the drum, do not seem yet to have 
seen the enemy any more than have the gentleman and lady 
at the table on the extreme left, she singing while he plays the 
flute. In the foreground of the tapestry appears the same 
scene as in Redemption, but more extended, Man on the ground 
threatened by Justice whom Mercy and Peace restrain. 

There are duplicates of this Music tapestry in the cathe- 
dral at Palencia and in Hampton Court Palace. The Hamp- 
ton Court one has Latin verses below in Gothic letters which 
read translated: ‘‘Before the judge in the presence of the 
Virtues, Justice and Mercy argue. Guilt is threatened by Jus- 
tice but reconciled by Mercy. When blessed Fortitude appears, 
_ the Faults always leave the field. The Sins eternally are 
chastised by the Virtues who do not die.’’ 

The Saragossa Dancing shows a pair of lightly clad ladies 
posing rhythmically in the foreground, with Vices mounted 
on weird animals riding up from the right, and groups of 
musicians and lovers throughout the rest of the panel. There 
is a duplicate of this tapestry in the Cathedral of Palencia, 
and at Hampton Court a modified version of the right half of 
it, with Latin verses below which read translated: ‘‘Sin 
beginning at first as a trifle, becomes deadly and profane. 
The Seven Sins just as they are generated in the World, 
here fly figuratively.’’ A pig bears lucuria, a camel impeni- 
tentia, a donkey invidia, ete. 


HUNOLSTEIN VIRTUES AND VICES 


Also inspired by the Salvation group are the famous 
Hunolstein Virtues and Vices, a set of four tapestries now in 
the collection of Mr. William Randolph Hearst, exhibited in 


40 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


Paris in 1880 and called by Kugene Mintz ‘‘this priceless set, 
as beautiful as it is little known.’’ The dominant characters of 
each of the four tapestries, high on a throne in the middle 
(with supplementary and explanatory scenes divided into 
panels by Gothic columns and arches) are: (1) fortitudo 
(Bravery), (2) Caritas (Charity), (3) Superbia (Pride), (4) 
Ira (Anger), two of them Virtues and two of them Vices. 
Originally there may have been a set of fourteen, seven Vir- 
tues and seven Vices. 


THE PRODIGAL SON 


Closely related to the Redemption subject is that of the 
Prodigal Son. One of the finest of the Brussels Late Gothic 
‘¢Prodigal Son’’ tapestries showing the influence of the Salva- 
tion group, hangs in the country residence of Mrs. Nicholas F. 
Brady (Plate IV, 1). In the lower left corner of the tapestry 
Luxury and Dissipation and Worldliness tempt the youth to 
enjoy with them pleasures forbidden at home. Above, the 
youth distinguished by a massive, twisted golden necklace, 
receives his inheritance from his aged father and sets forth 
upon his career of independence. In the middle foreground, 
the youth seated beside Dissipation, hands her a purseful of . 
money, while a page with wonderful plumed hat ransacks the 
treasure chest for other gifts. On the left, below, Luxury 
holds the youth’s attention. On the right, below, Gluttony 
brings him a dish of cherries, pears and plums, while round 
eakes and a goblet of wine stand on the damask-covered table 
before him. In the middle of the tapestry, at the top, the 
three Virtues who will ultimately rescue him, Repentance, 
Humility, and Mercy, read the Book of Knowledge. On the 
left, Luxury and her sister Vices beguile him and his gay com- 
panions. On the right, music helps lead him astray. The 
column that separates the scene in the upper left corner from 
the rest of the tapestry is adorned with a wreath expressive of 
the young man’s glee at emancipation from parental control. 


GOTHIC RELIGIOUS, ALLEGORICAL TAPESTRIES 41 


Similar to the Brady tapestry, but differing in details, is 
the Prodigal Son in the Cathedral of Palencia. 

Another Brussels version of the Prodigal Son story is pic- 
tured on a tapestry exhibited by Leo Nardus at Brussels. 
(Plate VII of Destrée Brussels, 1905.) In the middle fore- 
ground under a Gothic canopy the Son receives his inheritance, 
while the Author of the tapestry is seen through a window on 
the left. In the lower left corner of the tapestry the Father 
addresses good advice to his Son whom JZundus (the World) 
already has hold of. In the lower right corner, the Son influ- 
enced by amor sw (Self-love) embraces Luxury. The pen- 
dant of this tapestry, showing the Ruin, Reform, and Reha- 
bilitation of the Prodigal Son, was exhibited at Bruges in 1902. 

In the upper right corner of a Brussels Prodigal Son tapes- 
try formerly in the J. Lowengard collection the connection with 
the Bible is emphasized. Christ attended by Mercy with a 
ring and by Compassion welcomes Adam who like the Prodigal 
Son, is symbolic of Man in general. The scroll over Adam’s 
head reads (Luke XV, 19 and also 21) Non sum dignus vocart 
fiius tuus (I am not worthy to be called thy son). The scroll 
over Christ’s head reads (Luke XV, 22) Cito proferte stolam 
primam (Quickly bring forth the best robe). An angel holds 
the robe richly embroidered with stars. 

Much more human and closer to life (but inferior in design 
and weave) is the Tournai Prodigal Son tapestry in the 
Cluny Museum. 


THE WORLD 


Crude and much repaired but entertaining because they 
are so obviously sermons, are the three World tapestries made 
in Tournai about 1520, now in the Museé des Arts Décoratits, 
with French inscription above and French names on the per- 
sonages, all in Gothie lettering. The inscription of one 
reads translated: ‘‘The World hangs only by a thread 
because of the Sins that are seen at present to reign. But the 


42 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


Church humbly pacifies the Divine Wrath that wishes to cut 
down the tree.”’ 

The main scene shows a tree from which hangs a globe 
symbolizing the World. On the right ire divin swings an 
axe while on the left kneel l’église, oraison, and abstinence. 
The wickedness of the world in the first quarter of the six- 
teenth century is pictured by Convoitise who refuses her 
treasures to mendiant; by vanite who works at her mirror, 
by apetit desordone and friandise whose pleasure is the table, 
by fol amour and jonesse who give themselves to music 
and flirtation. 

THE PRINCE OF WICKEDNESS 


In the Salvation group all the Virtues and all the Vices 
except Tempter are feminine. In the three Tournai World 
tapestries, the Virtues and part of the Vices are feminine, In 
Edson Bradley’s magnificent prince de malice (Prince of 
Wickedness, Plates s, h, of the Subscribers’ Edition), 11 feet 
4 by 15 feet 5, made about 1460, and formerly lent to the Metro- 
politan Museum of Art, while the seven Virtues are feminine, 
the eighteen Vices are all masculine. This tapestry contrasts 
the Vices with the Virtues by displaying on the right the 
Castle of the Prince of Wickedness, and at the extreme left, 
part of the Castle of Goodness. Trees separate the two 
castles. The architectural development is superb. Gothic 
columns and arches and towers and tiled floor and leaded 
windows set the personages forth. The Prince of Wicked- 
ness with long beard and hair, both elaborately curled, elabor- 
ate crown, and pomegranate-brocaded robe, sits high on 
a jeweled throne. His courtiers (Vices) as well as those of the 
Court of Goodness (Angels and Virtues) are also richly clad. 
The attendants nearest the Prince of Wickedness are avarice 
with jeweled cup, orgoeul with mirror, flaterie, and glouton- 
nerve. In the foreground Sin (pechee) is talking eloquently 


GOTHIC RELIGIOUS, ALLEGORICAL TAPESTRIES 43 


to Wrath (yre) while envie listens impatiently. Vices in the 
background are luxure, ipocrisie, barat, and trayson; on the 
right, and on the left, faux report, discort, despit, and male- 
bouche. Two of the Vices, yre and avarice wear beards. The 
others are clean shaven. In the adjacent but hostile Castle 
of Goodness, three warrior maidens in full armor are on 
guard. Their names are prudence, carite, atempranse (Tem- 
perance). Peaceful Virtues are castite, sobresce, bonte, 
humilite. At the upper left are three Angels. 


THE SIBYLS 


In developing the New Dispensation out of the Old Dis- 
pensation, the Middle Ages employed the authority not only 
of Jewish Prophets but also of Pagan Sibyls. The Pagan 
world like the Jewish world was part of the Old Dispensation. 
The Sibyls of the Pagan world correspond to the Prophets of 
the Jewish world. In the Pagan world the Sibyls were the 
oracles of God. Princes and potentates sought their advice 
on affairs of state, and endeavored from their answers to 
forecast the future. The Sibylline books were the Bible and 
the ultimate authority of the Roman Kingdom, and continued 
so after it grew into the Roman Republic and into the Roman 
Empire. It was the Cumaean Sibyl who brought to Tarquin 
the Proud nine books written in Greek which she offered for 
a certain price. When he refused, she burned three, and 
offered the remaining six at the same price. When he again 
refused, she burned three more, and offered the remaining 
three at the same price. Impressed by her pertinacity, 
Tarquin bought them. They were preserved in the temple 
of Jupiter on the Capitol, and a college of curators assisted by 
Greek interpreters, was appointed to consult them, on com- 
mand of the Senate, regarding religious observances neces- 
sary to avert pestilence, earthquakes, and other extraordinary 
calamities, and to expiate prodigies. Through the Sibylline 


Ak THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


books, the religion and civilization of Rome were guided along 
lines fundamentally Greek. 

When the Roman Empire became Christian, the Sibyls 
also became Christian. They were a favorite subject of 
Gothic painters. Eight of the Sibyls are pictured on the 
walls of a chapel in the Cathedral of Amiens, with inscriptions 
in both Latin and French. 

The Sibyl scene that appears most often in tapestries is 
that of ‘‘Augustus and the Tiburtine Sibyl’’ found in the 
Mazarin and other Triumphs of Christ (Chapter VII); and in 
the Nativity (design B) of the Salvation series. There were 
also tapestries devoted exclusively to the Sibyls. Two panels 
of such a set made in Tournai at the beginning of the sixteenth 
century, are in the Duveen collection. Each panel has a 
canopied fountain in the middle, with a Sibyl on either side. 
One panel pictures the Erythraean and Cumaean Sibyls; the 
other panel pictures the Tiburtine and Delphic Sibyls. The 
Tiburtine Sibyl is accompanied by peacock above and lion 
below; the Delphic Sibyl by deer above and centaur below; 
the Erythraean Sibyl by unicorn below; the Cumaean Sibyl 
by faleon above and griffin below. The Erythraean Sibyl 
holds in her hand a sprouting twig symbolic of the rod of 
Jesse, and hence of the maternity of the Virgin. The Sibyl’s 
Latin scroll reads translated: 


In the last age, God shall humble himself, the divine offspring shall 
become human, divinity and humanity shall be united, he shall lie on hay, ete. 


The Cumaean Sibyl holds a towel symbolic of the Birth of 
Christ. Her scroll reads: 

The Cumaean Sibyl foretold the sign of Judgment. The Earth shall be 
moist with sweat, the King shall come from heaven to reign throughout the 
centuries actually present in the flesh, ete. 

Even more dramatic seems to me the Latin inscription 
that accompanies the painted Cumaean Sibyl at Amiens, an 
inscription taken from Virgil’s Fourth Eclogue, and hence 


GOTHIC RELIGIOUS, ALLEGORICAL TAPESTRIES 45 


seeming to enroll Virgil himself as one of those announcing 
Christ. It reads : 


Magnus ab integro seculorum nascitur ordo 
Jam redit et virgo, redeunt saturnia regna, 
Jam nova progenies celo demittitur alto. 


The great cycle of the ages is born anew. 
Now returns the Virgin and the rule of Saturn. 
Now from lofty heaven a new race descends. 


CRUCIFIXION TAPESTRIES 


The earliest large Crucifixion tapestries in existence are 
the two in the marvelous collection of the Saragossa ecathe- 
drals, 13 feet 8 inches high by 27 feet 7 inches wide, dating 
from about 1440. Both tapestries once belonged to Ferdinand 
the Catholic, who bequeathed them to his son Archbishop 
Alonso, who bequeathed them to the Cathedral of La Seo. 
The one of the two that is best preserved I have illustrated on 
Plates IV, e, ea. The Crucifixion is in the middle, with the 
Road to Calvary on the left, and the Descent into Hell, and 
Resurrection, on the right. Above, the souls of the two 
thieves are seen being carried away, the soul of the repentant 
Thief on the left, by an angel up to Heaven; the soul of the 
unrepentant Thief on the right, by a devil down in Hell. At 
the foot of the Cross, the soldiers throw dice for Christ’s robe. 

Similar to these two tapestries in plan and general 
arrangement is the great Crucifixion of the Brussels Cin- 
quentenaire Museum (13 feet 11 by 29 feet 11), but later in 
date (about 1460) with foliage and costumes more highly 
developed. Still a little later (about 1480) but rather archaic 
in details, is the set of four Passion tapestries at the Cathe- 
dral of Angers, which Time has treated harshly. Still later in 
date (about 1515) is the small Crucifixion rich with gold from 
the Dreicer-Hainauer collection, now in the Metropolitan 
Museum of Art. All of these tapestries except the last are 
typically French in design (Page 22 of Destrée Cinquenten- 


46 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


aire) but I see nothing in design or weave that distinguishes 
them widely from the great Tournai sets picturing the Trojan 
War and the stories of Esther, Alexander, and Caesar. There 
is a duplicate of the middle section of the Brussels Crucifixion 
in the collection of the Viscount de Roda, Madrid. 


INSTRUMENTS OF THE PASSION 


Tapestries growing out of the Crucifixion are those pictur- 
ing the Instruments of the Passion in the Cathedral of Angers, 
and in Notre Dame de Nantilly at Saumur, made in France 
at the beginning of the sixteenth century. The former is in 
three pieces 5 feet 6 inches high with combined length of 
56 feet 3 inches. There are seven scenes, each showing an 
angel with Instrument, (1) the purse of Judas, (2) the lance, 
(3) the flagellation column and whips, (4) the pitcher and 
basin from which Pilate washed his hands, (5) the Cross, 
(6) the pail and sponge from which Our Lord drank gall 
and vinegar, (7) the shroud. Beside each angel is a large 
eight-line stanza of French verse in Gothic lettering, except 
that the first angel has two such stanzas. The background 
of the scenes is covered with millefleur verdure, birds and 
animals. Over the inscriptions appears the coat-of-arms of 
Pierre de Rohan who died in 1513, and who was the father 
of the Bishop of Angers, Francois de Rohan. 


THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS 


The splendid Seven Sacraments tapestry of the Metro- 
politan Museum (Plates IV, a, b, c) consists of five fragments 
containing seven scenes. Originally the tapestry contained 
fourteen scenes, the upper row illustrating the Origin of the 
Sacraments, the lower row illustrating the Sacraments as 
Celebrated in the Fifteenth Century. 

At first glance several of the scenes, notably those pictur- 
ing the ‘‘Origin of the Sacraments,’’ seems to take one back to 
the beginning .of the fifteenth century. But the costumes of 


GOTHIC RELIGIOUS, ALLEGORICAL TAPESTRIES 47 


the scenes picturing the ‘‘Seven Sacraments as Celebrated in 
the Fifteenth Century,’’ make it impossible that the tapestry 
can have been designed much before 1440. 

Two of the fragments are mounted wrong’ side out, which 
illustrates the fact that, except for difference of direction, 
tapestry pictures are alike on face and back. Furthermore, 
as time goes on, tapestries fade more on the face than 
on the back, and the loose threads that mark the back are apt 
to disappear, so that it is easy for an ignorant repairer to be 
led into error. This applies not only to the pictures but also 
to the French Gothic inscriptions, two of which in the Seven 
Sacraments are mounted wrong side out. 

On Plates 46 and 47 of Hunter 1912, I arranged the five 
fragments (reversing those mounted wrong side out) to show 
the relative position they occupied in the ancient tapestry. 
These illustrations also made clear the fact that originally 
the tapestry had a brick frame with floriation outside, and 
that round Gothic columns separated the different scenes. 

The seven scenes that appear on the five fragments are: 


I. Christ baptized by John the Baptist, the Origin of Baptism. 

II. Fifteenth century Baptism. 

III. Jacob Blessing two Children, the Origin of Confirmation. 

IV. Adam and Eve married by God, the Origin of Marriage. 

V. Fifteenth century Marriage. 

VI. Unction of Honor given to David at Hebron, the Origin of Extreme 

Unction. 

VII. Fifteenth century Extreme Unction. 


One of the missing scenes is Confirmation and Tonsure as 
celebrated in the fifteenth century. Strangely enough, this 
fragment now hangs in the Victoria and Albert Museum 
(Plate IV, d). 

The inscriptions that remain were of great help in studying 
the tapestry (See my article in the Burlington Magazine of 
December, 1907). While the inscriptions of Marriage and 
Extreme Unction are still complete, we have of the Confirma- 

5 


48 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


tion and Tonsure inscription only the first two-thirds, and of 
the Baptism inscription only the last third. The following 
illustration shows the way in which these mutilated inscrip- 
tions appear at the top of the Origin of Baptism. Below the 
illustration I have placed the transcription: 


fAbtra qua \gtyar Cabimbon iyi creates} bias tt tory PMS 
toubic ntti tonfircr’- ee che ay tanblaneb? re prune » 
sfc if patcierctd Bie pnt {ef waaing tte «1 vt at 


Adfin qua vigheur sabandonnent. creatures prelas leur/tores de lescriptures. 
Confirmacion et tonsure. et de che samblanche en d/t ow sainct baptesme 
purgies. 
jacob le patriarche fist. qui ses mains sur ij enfa/ue de jourdain lauez. 
The rhyme helps to complete the lines describing Confirma- 
tion and Tonsure. Originally they read as follows: 
Adfin qua vigheur sabandonnent 
Creatures, prelas leur donnent 
Confirmacion et tonsure 
Et de che samblanche en desure 
Jacob le patriarche fist, 
Qui ses mains sur deux enfants mist. 


The translation is: 


In order that mortals may surrender themselves to strength, prelates give 
them confirmation and tonsure, and other similar holy offices. Jacob the 
patriarch did it, who placed his hands on two children (Plates IV, e, d). 

The part of the inscription referring to Baptism reads 
in translation: 

Be Beh g to veenig riters of scripture 
PPPS Fa Hee) nt by holy baptism purified 
5 ea a erat water of Jordan washed 

Plate IV, b, shows the fragment containing Marriage and 
Fixtreme Unction, as it hangs mounted wrong side out in the 
Museum. Being mounted wrong side out of course reverses 
the direction, so that Extreme Unction comes on the left 
before Marriage, and so that the vertical brick column which 
should be on the right, at the end of the tapestry, appears 


GOTHIC RELIGIOUS, ALLEGORICAL TAPESTRIES 49 


on the left. Note that the inscriptions above the two scenes 
are also reversed and that the repairer has worked the nun’s 
headdress into the band carrying the inscription. 

The two inscriptions read as follows: 


Le sacrement de mariage. dont multiplie humain lignage. 
moustra dieus quand adam crea. et de sa coste eve fourma. 
qui fu des femmes la premiere. et a adam amie chiere. 


The sacrament of marriage, by which the human race multiplies, was 
instituted by God when he created Adam and from his rib formed Eve, who 
was of women the first and sweetheart to Adam. 


Mais la derniere unction. qui contre la temptation. 
de sa vertu donne vigheur. moustra lunction dhonneur. 
faite en ebron a david rot. pour estre de plus fort arroi. 


Also extreme unction, which against temptation by its virtue gives 
strength, was instituted by the unction of honor given in Hebron to King 
David to increase his power. 


Plate IV, a, picturing Fifteenth Century Baptism, gives the 
colours of this wonderful tapestry, which though in bad condi- 
tion still retains much of its ancient power. Even the sections 
where dark brown wefts have rotted away leaving warps bare 
do not stand out unpleasantly. But the patches are annoy- 
ing, especially the large one in Fifteenth Century Marriage, 
although it is not only ancient but from another part of the 
same tapestry. 

Design and weave of the Seven Sacraments tapestry are 
wonderfully vigorous. The faces are full of character and 
individuality. The entire surface is richly patterned and 
strongly textured. The weave is coarse, 12 warps to the inch, 
and the ribs are flat as is common in Gothic tapestries 
before 1480. 

Boldly the garments flow in vertical Gothic folds, folds 
quite as interesting in the plain robes as in the rich damasks 
and velvets and embroideries and ermine. 


50 ' THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


Boldly the personages stand forth from damask-patterned 
wall and tiled floor, and from one another, line contrast 
being accentuated by mass contrast of reds, blue-greens, 
golden yellows. 

Boldly the different scenes are separated by round Gothic 
columns with jeweled mouldings and capitals while a woven- 
brick border with jewels inside and floriation outside frames 
the whole tapestry, pushing back the damassé background, 
and giving additional semblance of relief to the personages. 
Light and shade are artfully employed to increase the rotund- 
ity of columns and drapery folds, and the thickness of the 
enframing bricks. 

The border of this great tapestry is one of its most dis- 
tinctive features. It is the earliest Gothic all-round border 
that Ihave found. It is the only Gothic border that is heavily 
shadowed. Possibly this tapestry is the ‘‘Histoire du Sacra- 
ment’’ bought at Bruges in 1440 by Philip the Good, Duke 
of Burgundy, to decorate the chamber of his son the young 
Count of Charolais, known to history as Charles the Bold. 
It hung for centuries in the chapel of Ferdinand and Isabella 
at Granada, and by 1871 was in such bad repair that the 
authorities discarded it. It was then purchased by the painter 
Fortuny and with the other furnishings of Fortuny’s studio 
sold at auction in Paris in 1875. 

Possibly the bride and groom in Fifteenth Century Mar- 
riage, and the father and mother in Fifteenth Century Baptism, 
were intended to suggest Philip the Good and his wife Isabella 
of Portugal. Certainly the bride and mother look strangely 
like Van Kyck’s portrait of Isabella, as copied in the seven- 
teenth century (See Dimier in La Renaissance de l’Art 
Francais, September, 1922). Likewise both Philip the Good 
and his youthful son Charles, as pictured in my manuscript 
illustration on Plate XVIII, b, remind one of the tapestry 
husband and father. 


GOTHIC RELIGIOUS, ALLEGORICAL TAPESTRIES 61 


THE EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS 


Two magnificent tapestries from the middle of the fif- 
teenth century in the collection of the Saragossa cathedrals, 
one of them 14 feet high by 36 feet long, the other a little 
smaller through the injuries of time, picture the ‘‘Exaltation 
of the Holy Cross.’’ They were presented to La Seo by 
Archbishop Dalmau de Mur y Cervellon (1431-1458). The 
story is told in Latin Gothic inscriptions. The first of the tap- 
estries shows: (1) The Persian King Chosroes riding out of 
Jerusalem with the Cross; (2) Chosroes seated on his golden 
throne resigns in favor of his son; (3) Chosroes sits on a 
magnificent throne built for the purpose, with the Cross 
beside him, and seeks to be worshipped as God; (4) The 
Roman Emperor (Byzantine Roman) Heraclius, consecrating 
himself to God and the Holy Cross, defeats the son of Chosroes 

-in single combat. 

The second tapestry shows: (1) Chosroes refusing to 
become a Christian, Heraclius decapitates him and recovers 
the Cross. The youngest son of Chosroes is baptized. (2) 
Heraclius riding in triumph with the Cross, is about to enter 
Jerusalem, when the gateway suddenly turns to blank wall. 
Above the gate appears an angel who says, ‘‘ When the King 
of Heaven about to receive the sacraments of the Passion, 
passed through this entrance, he wore no glistening crown and 
rode no splendid charger, but seated on a humble ass left an 
example of humility to his disciples.’’ (3) Heraclius barefoot 
and in chemise carries the Cross through the wall that opens 
for his passage. (4) Heraclius kneels before an altar on 
which he has placed the Cross. 


THE VENGEANCE OF JESUS CHRIST 
A most interesting but rather gruesome Gothic tapestry 
(See my frontispiece in colour) from the middle of the fit- 
teenth century, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, pictures 


52 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


the Capture of Jerusalem by Titus in the year 70 A.D. It 
is one of a group illustrating the ‘‘Vengeance of Jesus 
Christ,’’ and the punishment inflicted upon those responsible 
for the death of the Saviour. Hight large fragments of the 
group, from at least three different sets of different design 
and quality and date, are the two formerly in the Heilbronner 
collection (Illustrated in the sale catalogue, Paris, 1921); the 
two in the W. R. Coe collection (Illustrated in the Charles 
sale catalogue, New York, 1920); the one in the Seligmann- 
Rey collection; the one in the church of Notre Dame de Nan- 
tilly at Saumur (Photo 554 Archives; one in the Vienna 
Museum for Art and Industry (Plate 9 of Kurt Tournat) ; one 
in the Lyons Museum. 
The tapestries arranged in the order of the story are: 


I. The Vienna piece shows the reception by Pilate of the messenger sent 
by Vespasian to secure the Veronica. As the tapestry shows, the 
voyage of the messenger had been rough. 

II. One of the Heilbronner pieces shows on the left Vespasian cured of: 
leprosy by the Veronica (ef. Mr. Philip Lehman’s Veronica rich with 
gold, Plates VII, e, f). 

III. The Lyons piece shows Nero on his throne giving instructions to 
Vespasian, on the left; and on the right, Vespasian and Titus 
capturing a city in Palestine. 

IV. One of the Coe pieces shows the city of Jotopata in Palestine sur- 
rendering to Vespasian. After the surrender, its defender, the 
Jewish historian Josephus, became an ally of the Romans. 

V. The Saumur piece shows the coronation of Vespasian as Roman 
Emperor. | 

VI. The Seligmann-Rey piece shows some of the eruelties of the siege of 
Jerusalem, hands being eut off, ete. 

VII. The second of the Coe pieces shows the hand- -cutting scene with 
Titus looking on, while starving Jews inside the walls cook and eat 
little children, and others swallow their money in the effort to save 
it from the Roman conquerors. 

VIII. The second of the Heilbronner pieces shows the Roman soldiers 
attacking; and a Jewish woman cooking and eating her own child, 
as told by Josephus in his Jewish Antiquities. 


GOTHIC RELIGIOUS, ALLEGORICAL TAPESTRIES 53 


IX. The Metropolitan Museum piece shows Titus triumphant after the fall 
of Jerusalem, with the Ark of the Convenant and other treasures of 
the Jewish Temple prominently displayed. In the foreground the 
Jews who swallowed their money are forced to give it up. 


The two Coe tapestries have four-line French Gothic 
inscriptions at the top, but the upper three lines on one of 
them do not belong to the tapestry and have been added from 
~a ‘‘Lerian and Laureole’’ set. 


THE MAGI, TRAJAN AND HERKINBALD 


Two extremely important tapestries from the middle of 
the fifteenth century are the ‘‘ Adoration of the Magi’’ (Plate 
XXI, fa) about 12 feet square, and the ‘‘ Justice of Trajan and 
Herkinbald,’’ 14 feet high by 41 feet long, at the Museum of 
Berne. Both bear the sewed-on arms of George of Saluces, 
Bishop of Lausanne, who died in 1461, and both were trans- 
ferred from the Cathedral of Lausanne to Berne in 1536. 
Both are characteristically Tournai in design and weave. 
The brick wall and the floriation of the Adoration suggest 
those of the Metropolitan Museum’s Seven Sacraments. 
Above the ox and ass of the Adoration is the inscription Non 
redietis ad heroden. The Trajan and Herkinbald tapestry 
pictures, in four scenes, the Justice of Trajan and the Justice 
of Herkinbald, each in two scenes, with long Latin Gothic 
inscriptions below each scene. Probably the cartoons were 
based on paintings of Roger van der Weyden, anciently in the 
Brussels City Hall, but destroyed during the bombardment of 
1695. In the first scene, on the left of the tapestry, with 
Roman double eagle above, Trajan riding at the head of his 
army, is stopped by a widow who beseeches him to punish her 
son’s murderer. IJImpatiently Trajan bids her wait until he 
returns. ‘‘But you will never return,’’ cried the widow. 
Impressed by her words, Trajan dismounts, and as shown 
in the tapestry has justice done immediately. The widow 
was right. Trajan never did return. He died on his way 


5A THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


back from the Orient. There is a Late Gothic tapestry ver- 
sion of this first picture in the Duveen collection. The second 
scene shows, on the right, the skull of Trajan presented to 
Pope Gregory who, moved by the justice of Trajan, prayed 
(on the left) that the soul of Trajan be admitted to Paradise. 
The tongue of Trajan was found to be still undecayed, a sign 
that the prayer was granted. 

Just as in the Seven Sacraments, we have the Sacraments 
as Celebrated in the Fifteenth Century, contrasted with the 
Origin of the Sacraments, so in this tapestry we have the 
Medieval Justice of Herkinbald contrasted with the Ancient 
Justice of Trajan. The third scene shows Herkinbald, Duke 
of Brabant, slaying with his own hand his nephew who has 
been guilty of the crime of rape. In the fourth scene, the 
justice of Herkinbald’s act receives divine sanction. "When 
the Bishop refuses to give him the last sacrament unless he 
confesses as a murderer, the sacred wafer miraculously 
passes from the ciborium, and places itself on the tongue of 
the dying Herkinbald. 

About sixty years later is the Herkinbald tapestry in the 
Brussels Cinquentenaire Museum (Illustrated in Destrée Cin- 
quentenatre) which contains some gold. The accounts of the 
Confrérie du Saint-Sacrement of Saint Pierre, at Louvain, 
for the year 1513, list in Flemish the payment of 2% Rhine 
florins, and 2 pots of wine at 5 sous, to Jan van Brussel (Jean 
de Bruxelles) for the sketch after which the large cartoon was 
made; of 13! florins to Philip the painter for making the 
large cartoon; also 10 sous to Philip for bringing the large 
cartoon and hanging it in the church. 

While the Berne tapestry is full Gothic the Brussels 
tapestry is almost Renaissance. The Berne tapestry has no 
border; it is the antithesis of symmetrical, the left third a 
confused mass of figures, with nothing to restrain but trees 
above and flowers and inscription below, the right two-thirds 
rigidly framed into separate scenes by slender Gothie 


GOTHIC RELIGIOUS, ALLEGORICAL TAPESTRIES 55 


columns and arches, with trees above and inscriptions below; 
and it has a plot too subtle for most of those who have written 
about it. 7 

The Brussels Herkinbald, with border, with architecture 
already Renaissance, and with central composition, is only 
held on the Gothic side of the line by its long robes and figures 
_ arranged in vertical tiers. Here, the stabbing scene has been 
crowded into the upper right corner, with the seduction 
scene added in the upper left corner, for the sake of balance, 
while the death-bed scene reminds one of Louis XIV giving 
an audience. As for the faces, those of the Berne tapestry 
have individuality and character, while these of the Brussels 
tapestry are mostly angelic and insipid, borrowed with tech- 
nical skill but without great intelligence from the great Late 
Gothic tapestries rich with gold, and from Italy. In other 
words, the Berne tapestry, despite the enfeebling work of 
repairers, is still a great tapestry, while the Brussels Herkin- 
bald is weak. 

THE STORY OF ESTHER 


Now in the Charles Jairus Martin memorial collection of 
tapestries of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and formerly 
on loan at the Metropolitan Museum as part of the Morgan- 
Hoentschel collection, is a fine fragment from the famous 
Gothic group picturing the story of Esther (Plate 403 of 
Hunter 1912). The two main scenes are separated by a Gothic 
column with jeweled moulding, resembling the columns of 
the Metropolitan Museum’s ‘‘Seven Sacraments,’’ but square 
instead of round. The tiny scenes in the upper left corner 
show, on the right, Esther learning of the condemnation to 
death of all Jews; on the left, praying that King Ahasuerus 
(whom we, following the Greeks, call Xerxes) may pardon her 
presumption in approaching him unbidden, for in the words 
of the Bible (Hsther IV, 11) ‘*‘Whosoever, whether man or 
woman, shall come unto the king in the inner court, who is 


56 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except 
such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that 
he may live.’’ 

The main scene on the left of the tapestry shows Ahasu- 
erus on his throne holding out his golden sceptre to Esther 
(hester), thus sparing her life. Hsther who had succeeded 
Vashti as Queen, wears her crown. She and her attendants 
are costumed magnificently. On the right stands the smart 
courtier and favorite of the King, Haman (aman), who also 
appears on the right of the next scene, but in profile. ‘‘ What 
wilt thou, Queen Esther?’’ asked the King, ‘‘and what is thy 
request? It shall be even given thee to the half of my king- 
dom.’’ And Esther answered, ‘‘If it seems good unto the 
King, let the King and Haman come this day unto the banquet 
that I have prepared for him.’’ The scene on the right of the 
tapestry shows the banquet scene, isther and Ahasuerus look- 
ing much as Margaret of York and Charles the Bold must have 
looked when banqueting, seated at a table royally appointed 
in fifteenth century style. The story is told in Latin in Gothic 
letters at the bottom of tho tapestry. 


ESTHER TAPESTRIES AT SARAGOSSA 


The most splendid Gothic Esther tapestries in the world 
are the three (each about 14 by 26 feet) belonging to the 
Saragossa, cathedrals, which once were the property of Ferdi- 
nand the Catholic, who willed them to his son Archbishop 
Alonso, who willed them to La Seo. They picture the first 
half of the story of Esther as told in the Bible. The tradi- 
tion is that they had previously belonged to Charles the Bold, 
Duke of Burgundy. While they resemble the Minneapolis 
Histher in style and weave, the design is altogether different, 
as can be seen by comparing the Minneapolis Esther with the 
corresponding scenes of the third Saragossa piece. The 
Latin inscriptions of the Saragossa tapestries are in Gothic 
letters, at the top. 


GOTHIC RELIGIOUS, ALLEGORICAL TAPESTRIES — 57 


(1) The main scenes of the first Saragossa tapestry (Plates 
IV,n,na) are: (a) The feast given by Ahasuerus to the princes 
und nobles of his empire; (b) The refusal of Queen Vashti 
(vasti) to come when commanded; (c) The divorce and expul- 
sion of Vashti. It will be noticed that Plate IV, n, illustrates 
the left two-thirds of the tapestry, while Plate IV, na, illus- 
trates the right two-thirds, thus repeating the middle third. 

(2) The main scenes of the second Saragossa tapestry 
are: (a) Arrest of the two chamberlains whose plot to lay 
hand on Ahasuerus was exposed by Mordecai (mardose) ; 
(b) Esther brought to Ahasuerus by Mordecal, in response to 
the proclamation that fair young virgins should be sought 
for the king; (c) Esther made Queen. Ahasuerus places her, 
crowned, on the throne beside him, gives her his ring, and 
makes a great feast in her honor. 

(3) The main scenes of the third Saragossa tapestry are: 
(a) Haman becomes prime minister and plots the destruction 
of the Jews, especially of Mordecai who refused to do him 
reverence; (b) Esther approaches the king at the risk of her 
life; (c) Esther’s first banquet to the king and Haman. Sub- 
ordinate scenes above show Haman joyfully telling Zeresh 
his wife that Esther has asked him to another banquet with 
the king, but lamenting that he still sees ‘‘ Mordecai the Jew 
sitting at the king’s gate.’’ 

The life and vivacity of these three tapestries is extraor- 
dinary. Every face is full of expression and every scene is 
full of action. Hats and gowns and jewels are rich and 
beautiful. The architectural framework is elaborate and 
exquisite. The story of Esther is brought completely up to 
date, and acted out in their own environment by personages 
of the French Gothic Court of Burgundy. 

The first inscription on the first Saragossa tapestry is, 
Assuerus rex grande fecit convivium cunctis principibus suis 
ut ostenderet divicias glorie regni sui (King Ahasuerus made 
a great feast for all his princes that he might display the 


58 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


riches of the glory of his kingdom). The inscriptions are based 
on the Book of Esther, and follow the meaning of the text, but 
modify and abbreviate the phraseology of the Vulgate. 


OTHER ESTHER GOTHIC TAPESTRIES 


Besides the Saragossa and Minneapolis Gothic Esther 
tapestries, there are the following fragments: 

(1) Two adjacent scenes at the Nancy Museum, from the booty found in the 
camp of Charles the Bold after his defeat and death under the walls 
of Nancy in 1477 (Figs. 10, 11 of Fondation Piot, 1903). There are 
French inscriptions at the top. The scenes are: The Refusal of 
Vashti, and the Divorce of Vashti. The designs are altogether dif- 
ferent from those of the Saragossa set. 

(2) One scene without inscription in the Louvre (Fig. 9 of Fondation Piot, 
1903), a duplicate of the Nancy “ Refusal of Vashti.” 

(3) One scene formerly held by a Brussels dealer (Plate 27 of Kurt 
Tournai), a duplicate of scene ¢ of the second Saragossa tapestry, 
“Esther Made Queen.” 


We have then parts of at least four different sets: (A) 
the Saragossa set; (B) the Brussels set, probably a duplicate 
of the Saragossa set; (C) the Nancy set; (D) the Louvre set, 
probably a duplicate of the Nancy set. Possibly the Minneap- 
olis fragment belongs to the C or the D set, which may origi- 
nally have had Latin inscriptions at the bottom as well as 
French inscriptions at the top, but I think it more probably 
was part of a fifth set. 

listher also appears in the Mazarin and other “< Triumph of 
Christ’’ tapestries, in the Sens ‘‘Triumph of the Virgin,’’ in 
the Somzée ‘‘Triumph of the Virgin’’ now on loan at the 
Metropolitan Museum of Art, and in the Duveen ‘‘Esther 
and Augustus’’ (See Chapter VII). 


THE STORY OF JEPHTHAH ) 

Another splendid tapestry in the collection of the Sara- 
gossa cathedrals, a little earlier in date than the Esther 
group, pictures the first part of the story of Jephthah (Judges, 
XAT). This is the Jephthah who vowed when he went forth 


GOTHIC RELIGIOUS, ALLEGORICAL TAPESTRIES = 59 


against the Ammonites, that if the Lord delivered the children 
of Ammon into his hands, he would on his return offer up for 
a burnt offering whatsoever came forth of the doors of his 
house to meet him. The Lord did deliver the Ammonites 
into his hands, and he came home victorious to his house in 
Mizpah, where he was welcomed by his only daughter with 
timbrels and with dances. At the extreme left of the tapes- 
try the Author delivers his prologue. Next on the right, 
with beautiful ladies in the background, the elders of Gilead 
go to the land of Tob to ask the aid of Jephthah who has been 
unjustly banished. Jephthah is crowned king as the Gilead- 
ites promised if he would help them. Next, messengers to 
and from,the Ammonites. Last, the battle in which Jephthah 
defeated the Ammonites. 


THE STORY OF DAVID 


One of the best-known and most brilliant sets of Gothic 
religious tapestries pictures the Story of David, and hangs 
in the Cluny Museum. It was made in Brussels at the 
beginning of the sixteenth century (1505-1510). It is 14 
feet 9 inches high and contains considerable gold, especially 
in the brocaded names of david, bersabee, urias, ete., but not 
enough to bring it into the class of the ‘‘rich with gold”’ 
Gothic tapestries of Chapter VII. The subjects of the ten 
tapestries, the story of which is taken from the Bible, JI 
Samuel, VI, XI, XII, are: 


I. David dances before the Ark. 
II. Bathsheba at the Bath. 
III. David and Uriah. 
IV. Uriah with the army at Rabbah. 
V. Joab reports Uriah’s Death. 
VI. Marriage of David and Bathsheba. 
VII. David reproached by Nathan. 
VIII. Death of the Baby. 
IX. Capture of Rabbah (Plate XVIII, fa). 
X. David crowned at Rabbah. 


60 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


The scenes follow the Bible text but with minor changes 
that increase the dramatic effect. 

The inscriptions are in Latin, in Gothic letters, but there 
are only three of them on the whole set, one under the por- 
trait of the Author at the left end of tapestry No. I, one under 
the portrait of the Author at the right end of tapestry No. 
TX, one on the scroll held by the personage in the lower left 
corner of tapestry No. VIL. 

The presence of Virtues and a Vice in tapestry VII shows 
the influence of the great Salvation group. In the middle of 
the tapestry David and Bathsheba sit on a magnificent throne, 
surrounded by their Court, but disconsolate because of the 
reproaches of the prophet Nathan who stands in the fore- 
ground. In the extreme upper left corner, Nathan kneels in 
prayer before God visible in the sky above. At the right of 
this scene, from left to right across the upper third of the 
tapestry are seven beautiful winged maidens, six Virtues, 
contricio kneeling repentant, ira dei brandishing a sword, 
misericordia with lily branch, justicia with sword and scales, 
sapiencia with mirror, penitencia with sword, Be one Vice, 
luxuria, with casket. 

Tapestries closely related to the Cluny David set are: 


(1) Mr. Edward A. Faust’s “David reproached by Nathan,” with entirely 
different design from the corresponding Cluny tapestry, and without 
the Virtues and Vices. David (with pAviy woven into the hem of 
his robe) and Bathsheba are not seated, but stand before the throne, 
and there are subordinate scenes in the upper corners of the tapestr y; 
on the left, David giving Uriah the letter instructing Joab, “Set ye 
Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, 
that he may be smitten, and die;” on the right, Uriah delivering the 
letter to Joab. 

(2) The “ Bathsheba at the Bath ” belonging to the city of Brussels, formerly 
in the Somzée collection (Plate XXIII of the sale catalogue). 

(3) The three David tapestries rich with gold in the Royal Spanish collection 
(Plates 9, 10, 11, of Valencia Spanish). The “Bathsheba at the 
Bath,” is a reduced version, with some changes, of the Brussels one. 


GOTHIC RELIGIOUS, ALLEGORICAL TAPESTRIES 61 


(4) The rather inferior “ David, Abigail and Saul” tapestry in the Brussels 
Cinquentenaire Museum. 
(5) The two David tapestries in the collection of Mr. J. E. Aldred. 
(6) The somewhat later version of the Spanish “Bathsheba at the Bath” 
- (See No. 3, above), formerly in the collection of French & Co. 
(7) The narrow frieze tapestries in the Royal Italian collection at Florence, 
picturing the Story of David and Bathsheba. 


MR. MACKAY’S ‘‘DAVID’’ 


Earlier than all of these, is Mr. Mackay’s huge tapestry, 
15 feet high by 29 feet 4 inches long, that in five scenes 
pictures the Marriage of David and Bathsheba (Plate S, ¢, in 
colour, of the Subscribers’ Edition). David, it will be noticed 
(Plate S, 0, of the Subscribers’ Edition) is clean shaven in 
the style of the fifteenth century instead of being bearded in 
the style of the sixteenth century, as in the David tapestries 
previously named. Here we have the ancestor of the group, 
an ancestor superior to any of its descendants, all of which 
show the family likeness. In Mr. Mackay’s ‘‘ David,’’ designer 
and weaver have combined to utilize effectively the wonderful 
possibilities of tapestry texture, and by contrasts of ribs and 
hatchings and slits, and silk and wool, and pattern and colour, 
and light and shade, and columns and arches, to present per- 
sonages in groups boldly and brilliantly. Admirably does the 
ancient narrow border fulfil the purpose of its being, which is 
by contrast to exalt the lines and colours of the scenes 
that it enshrines. It consists of round leafy clusters grow- 
ing from the spirals of the sinuous stem that divides it into 
small compartments. 

The architectural framing of the tapestry is unusually 
simple and symmetrical, and the different members are shaded 
and hatehed and coloured with a skill that sets their intricate 
ornamentation strongly forth. Just inside the border is a 
woven frame of sharp mouldings in high relief, accentuated by 
a row of colored jewelry with intervening pearls in groups 
of five or six. Upon the inner side of the bottom of the frame 


62 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


stand the five-sided bases of the two middle columns that 
make the tapestry a triptych, and the four-sided bases of the 
columns partly engaged in the jeweled frame at each end of 
the tapestry. The outer wings of the triptych are divided 
horizontally by round jeweled beams with spiral mouldings. 
An arched and ribbed canopy springing from slender twisted 
columns distinguishes David’s throne. 

Scene I, in the upper left corner, Bathsheba at the Bath, is 
not at all like Rubens’ ‘‘Bathsheba at the Bath.’’ Bathsheba 
on the roof of her house after holding her hands daintily 
under one of the streams of water falling into the basin of the 
fountain, is about to wipe them on the towel with knotted 
fringe, and blue border and cross stripes, which one of her 
maids holds ready. David, from his palace, looking out 
through the window with trefoil arch, catches sight of this 
beautiful woman, and turns to his courtiers to ask who she is. 
In the words of the Bible (JJ Samuel, XI, 2-3): 


And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his 
bed, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house; and from the roof he 
saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful. And 
David inquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bath-sheba the 
daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? 


Immediately David sent messengers to fetch Bathsheba. 
Scene II in the lower corner of the tapestry shows how warmly 
David received her. David’s infatuation was such that he 
arranged to have Uriah killed in battle. After Uriah’s death 
David was in a position to legitimize the situation, and the 
middle third of the tapestry shows David on his throne wel- 
coming Bathsheba as his wife. Scene IV in the lower right. 
corner shows David and Bathsheba reproached by: Nathan. 
Scene V in the upper right corner, shows Bathsheba lamenting 
the illness of her baby. In the background is the bed upon 
which lies the dying child. Outside the door mace and Oe 
followers join in the lamentation. | 


GOTHIC RELIGIOUS, ALLEGORICAL TAPESTRIES 63 


SUSANNA, JUDITH, AND JOSEPH 


The most important tapestries picturing the Story of 
Susanna are the set of five in eight scenes described and. illus- 
trated by M. Guiffrey (Guiffrey Susanne), with French 
Gothic verses at the top; and the one in the Victoria and 
Albert Museum (Plate 325 of Hunter 1912, with wide border 
but with no inscription except the name susenne. 

The most important tapestries picturing the Story of Judith 
are the one in two scenes in the Somzée sale (Brussels 1901) 
with short Latin Gothic inscription above (Plate 347 of Hunter 
1912); and the Tournai one at the Cathedral of Sens (Plates 
CV, CVI of Demotte Gothic), with the fragment of a Story of 
Ruth tapestry sewed on at the right, and with Latin Gothic 
inscriptions below. The Wolsey coat-of-arms attached above 
suggests the possibility of this having come from Hampton 
Court, and being one of the Judith set made by Arnould 
Poissonnier and given to the Duke of Suffolk by the city 
of Tournai in 1516. | 

Interesting Story of Joseph tapestries are the ones in 
the collection of Mr. Thomas W. Lamont, ‘‘ Joseph spurning 
Pharaoh’s crown’’; ‘‘Pharaoh’s Dream’’ in the Stibbert 
Museum, Florence; ‘‘Triumph of Joseph’’ at the Cathedral of 
Tarragona. In the last, two subordinate scenes, ‘‘ Adoration 
of the Magi,’’ above on the left, and ‘‘Christ Preaching’’ above 
on, the right show that Joseph is here presented as a forerun- 
ner of Christ. Below these two scenes are, on the left, faro 
(Pharaoh) putting his ring on Joseph’s finger; on the right 
iosap with sceptre looking out of a window at puitefer (Poti- 
phar) and his wife assonech who seem to be quarreling. The 
middle half of the tapestry shows Joseph seated on a throne 
between Pharaoh and sapiencia (Wisdom), who is Joseph’s 
companion in all three scenes. Above the head of Joseph in 
the middle scene is a dove symbolic of the Holy Spirit. 

6 


64 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


SAINT PETER 


In the year 1460, Guillaume de Hellande, Bishop of Beau- 
vais, presented to the Cathedral of Saint Peter at Beauvais, 
a set of Saint Peter tapestries just completed, probably at 
Tournai but perhaps at Beauvais, by weavers steeped in 
Tournai traditions. A major part of the set is still in exist- 
ence, most of it at the Cathedral of Beauvais (Illustrated by 
Madam Crick-Kunziger in the Burlington Magazine, Novem- 
ber, 1924), one piece in the Cluny Museum (Plate 363 of 
Hunter 1912), one piece in the Bacri collection, three pieces 
in the United States. This may be regarded as the finest that 
remains to us of the many sets that were made picturing the 
Lives of the Saints. Furthermore it serves as a concrete 
example illustrating the type of tapestries that inspired 
donors, authors, designers, and weavers of the numerous pro- 
vincial Late Gothic, Gothic Renaissance and Karly Renaissance 
sets made in France, picturing the Lives of the Saints and 
of Christ and the Virgin, such as the Beaune ‘‘Virgin,’’ the 
Le Mans and the Soissons ‘‘Saints Gervais and Protais,’’ 
the Chaise-Dieu ‘‘Christ,’’ the Cluny ‘‘Saint Stephen,’’ the 
Louvre ‘‘Saint Quentin,’’ the Plessis-Macé ‘‘Eucharist,’’ 
the Saumur ‘‘Saint Florent,’’ the Saumur ‘‘Saint Peter,’’ the 
Angers ‘‘Saint Maurille,’’ ‘‘Saint Martin,’’ ‘‘ John the Bap- 
tist,’’? and ‘‘Saint Saturnin,’’ the Reims ‘‘ Virgin,’’ the Reims 
‘‘Saint Rémi,’’ ete. Of these sets, those woven after 1520 have 
architecture and costumes that are more Renaissance than 
Gothic, despite many archaicisms, but the inscriptions are in 
Gothic lettering, with a few minor exceptions, and the general 
plan and spirit is still Gothic. The Aix-en-Provence ‘‘Christ 
and the Virgin”’ differs greatly from these French sets in style, 
and was made in Brussels. 

Of the Beauvais ‘‘Saint Peter”’’ set, three pieces are now in 
the United States, one in the Seligmann-Rey collection (Saint 
Paul beheaded), two in the Andrew W. Mellon collection 


GOTHIC RELIGIOUS, ALLEGORICAL TAPESTRIES — 65 


(Tabitha raised from the Dead; and Apparition of the Angel 
to Cornelius). The arrangement of the first of these three 
pieces, with the coat-of-arms of the donor in two corners, and 
that of the Bishopric of Beauvais in the other two, with the 
word paix scattered here and there, and with French Gothic 
two-line inscription at the top, is typical of the set. 

The inscription at the top of ‘‘Saint Paul beheaded”’ reads, 
Comment saint pol a este decole hors rome, sa teste separee 
du corps fist troix saulx (How Saint Paul was beheaded out- 
side Rome. His head after separation from the body, made 
three bounds). Saint Paul kneels in the foreground behind 
the huge sword of the executioner. Three pools of water 
mark the spots where his head has touched the ground. Hence 
the name of Three Fountains given to the place. The bearded 
and haloed head still wears the veil of Platilla (Consult. the 
Golden Legend), and before the lips are the letters ths, initials 
of the Jesus hominum salvator that issued from Saint Paul’s 
mouth when the head touched the ground. Above is a scroll 
with the words written by Saint Paul to the Philippians (J, 21) 
Mich vivere Christus est et mori lucrum (For me to live is 
Christ and to die is gain). At the top of the tapestry just 
beneath the inscription is God receiving the soul of Saint 
Paul in the form of an infant brought by two angels. The 
spectators of the main scene are divided into two groups, 
Pagans on the left, Christians on the right. The central 
figure of the Pagan group is the Roman Emperor Nero, clean 
shaven, in golden armor, and with laurel wreath crowning his 
long hair. 

The word Peace (paix) that is scattered over all the 
tapestries has a special significance. For more than a cen- 
tury the Hundred Years’ War had raged between France ‘and 
England. France had been saved from bondage only by the 
miraculous intervention of Joan of Are who was condemned 
by a tribunal presided over by Bishop Guillaume’s predeces- 
sor. Bishop Guillaume, a loyal Frenchman, disavowed the 


66 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


acts of his predecessor, and was active in the rehabilitation 
of Joan’s name and character. About the time he became 
Bishop, peace was made between Henry VI of England and 
Charles VII of France. In the grand celebration of the peace 
at Paris, Bishop Guillaume played a prominent part. This is 
the Peace meant by the paix on the Saint Peter tapestries. 

The Quo Vadis illustrated on Plate XXI, d, formerly in 
the Blanchet collection, is from another Saint Peter set of 
similar character, made about fifteen years later. 


FRENCH PROVINCIAL TAPESTRIES 


In my discussion of the Credo and Salvation groups I 
showed how the idea of the New Dispensation foretold by the 
Old Dispensation, was developed magnificently by Authors and 
Designers at Brussels. We will now turn to French provincial 
tapestries developed crudely from picture books like the 
Biblia Pauperum (Bible of the Poor) and the Speculum 
Humanewe Salvationis (Mirror of Human Salvation). The 
set closest to the Bible of the Poor (Consult Méle Fifteenth) 
is the Life of Christ at La Chaise Dieu (1518). As in the 
Bible of the Poor, which became widely circulated and easy 
of access after it began to be printed from engraved blocks of 
wood about 1460, so in the Chaise-Dieu tapestries, fourteen 
of the pictures show some event from the Life of Christ in the 
centre, flanked by Old Testament scenes, with two prophets 
above and two prophets below, and with a wealth of Latin 
Gothic inscriptions. For instance, the Annunciation scene 
is flanked on the left by the Temptation of Eve and on the 
right by-the Fleece of Gideon, with Isaiah and David above, 
and Hzekiel and Jeremiah below. 

The Life of the Virgin set at Reims, presented to the Cathe- 
dral of Reims in 1530 by Archbishop Robert de Lenoncourt 
whose coat-of-arms appears repeatedly on the tapestries, 
while owing much to the Bible of the Poor, is vastly superior 
to the Chaise-Dieu set in design and weave and instead of 


GOTHIC RELIGIOUS, ALLEGORICAL TAPESTRIES _ 67 


four prophets has only two, these in the lower corners. But 
the main scene is still flanked by the same Old Testament 
scenes (Plate IV, 0, showing the Annunciation of the Reims 
‘‘Virgin’’ set) ; on the left, the Temptation of Eve, on the right, 
the Fleece of Gideon. In the Temptation of Eve, in the 
branches of the tree around which is coiled the human- 
headed Serpent, God holds the globe that symbolizes the 
Earth. The Latin hexameter inscription above on the left 
reads: Vipera vim perdit, sine vi pariente puella (The viper 
loses his venom, the Virgin becoming a mother without vio- 
lence). Gideon (cEDEON), having left his companions at the 
foot of the mountain, kneels beside the Fleece and asks God 
for asign of victory. The angel above holds a scroll reading: 
(Judges VI, 12) Dominus tecum, vir fortissime (God is with 
you, man most brave). Below Gideon is a scroll reading: 
Rore madet vellus, permansit arida tellus (The Fleece is wet 
with dew, the soil remains dry). In the lower corners of the 
tapestry two prophets, Isaiah on the left, David on the right. 
Isaiah’s inscription reads: (Isaiah VII, 14) Ecce virgo con- 
cipret et pariet fium (Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear 
a son). David’s inscription reads (Psalms LXXI, 6) 
Descendet Dominus sicut pluvia in vellus (The Lord shall 
descend like rajn upon the Fleece). 

In the middle of the tapestry, above the main scene, is 
God crowned and surrounded by angels, and. separated by 
clouds from the Earth below. The inscription on the arch 
above him reads: VIRGO SALVTATVR INTACTA MANENS GRAVIDATVR 
(The Virgin receives the Annunciation and conceives without 
sin). The main scene is the Virgin’s chamber, with tile floor, 
elaborate Renaissance vase of lilies, Gothic chests, and bed 
draped in Gothic manner. Gabriel followed by angels inclines 
his sceptre towards the kneeling Virgin and says in the words 
of the scroll above: AVE GRACIA PLENA DOMINVS TECVM, the 
GRACIA and pomInvs being abbreviated to cra and pns, The 
French Gothic verses below read translated: 


68 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


The vile serpent falsely argued with our Mother, and finally deceived 
her. The divine angel made: the Annunciation to Mary. The son of God 
humbling himself was conceived. Gideon noble judge received a celestial sign 
upon the mundane earth, by the rain or dew that fell upon the Fleece in 
sign of victory. 


Another interesting set at Reims, also of Gothic inspira- 
tion and also with architecture largely Renaissance, and appar- 
ently cartooned by the same painter, are the ten tapestries 16 
feet high, one foot less than the Reims Virgin set, picturing the 
Story of Saint Rémi, presented to the church of Saint Rémi by 
the same Archbishop Robert de Lenoncourt, in 1531. The 
inscribed verses are in French Gothic, and the inscribed names 
in F’‘rench Roman. 

Earlier in date, and also much superior to the Chaise-Dieu 
Christ and with an attractive millefleur foreground, is the 
Virgin set at Beaune completed in the year 1500. 

Also interesting is the Saint Gervais and Saint Protais set 
4 feet 11 inches high at Le Mans, donated to the Cathedral 
in 1509. 

An interesting set 5 feet 9 inches high of which two scenes 
on one piece are in the United States at the Boston Museum 
of Fine Arts (Plate 73 of Hunter 1912) is the Miracles of the 
Kucharist, dispersed at the Plessis-Macé sale in 1888. Of the 
other pieces one is now at the Louvre, two in the museum of 
the Gobelins, several in the Chateau de Langeais. 


SMALL RELIGIOUS TAPESTRIES 


On Plates IV, f, fa, fb, I have grouped three small religious 
tapestries for the purpose of contrast. One of them (Plate 
IV, f), the Metropolitan Museum’s small Crucifixion, I attrib- 
ute to the last half of the fourteenth century, despite the 
opinion of those who would date it 1400 or earlier, and despite 
the early character of the design. German and other provincial 
tapestries are usually archaic in weave. They are apt to be 
still more archaic in design. No tapestry can be earlier than its 


GOTHIC RELIGIOUS, ALLEGORICAL TAPESTRIES _ 69 


latest detail of design or weave. The weave of this Crucifixion, 
even after making allowance for the modification in texture 
produced by the repairer, is provincial and nearer to that of 
German and Swiss tapestries than to that of French tapestries. 
On the other hand, the Metropolitan Museum’s charming 
small Adoration of the Magi (Plate IV, fa) is a little earlier 
than the date usually assigned, probably not later than 1480. 
The contrast I wish especially to point out is that between the 
backgrounds of these three small tapestries. The first (Plate 
IV, f) has a background of large geometrical stars in the style 
of the fourteenth century; the second (Plate IV, fa) has nat- 
uralistic presentation of both sky and personages in the style 
of the last third of the fifteenth century; the third (Plate IV, 
fb) has personages and tower set against a background of 
Gothic verdure, in the style of the end of the fifteenth century. 


TRIUMPHS OF PETRARCH 


The only Gothic set of tapestries in the National Austrian 
collection is the six 13 feet 9 inches high picturing the 
Triumphs of Petrarch—Love, Chastity, Death, Fame, Time, 
Eternity—from French designs of Italian inspiration, woven 
at the end of the fifteenth century, perhaps in Tournai but 
more probably in France. Comparison of this set with the 
Brussels Triumphs of Petrarch at Hampton Court and at 
the Victoria and Albert Museum, develops clearly the marked 
difference in style between the Late Gothic tapestries of 
Brussels and of France-Tournai. Incidentally it may be 
remarked that the French set is much superior in design and 
weave to the Brussels set. 

On Plates 365 and 375 of Hunter 1912 were illustrated 
two of these French Triumphs of Petrarch, the first Fame, 
from the Somzée collection (Sale Catalogue Brussels 1901) 
with inscription missing but otherwise a duplicate of the 
Austrian Fame; the second, Love, from the Austrian col- 
lection, with French Gothic inscriptions above. Love is 


70 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


personified by Cupid who sits blindfolded on a golden wagon 
drawn. by two doves, two goats, two harpies, and Urania with 
a harp. Crushed beneath the wheels of the wagon, which is 
guided by Pleasure (volupte) and pushed by Idleness (ois?- 
vite), are Paris and Helen and Jason and Hercules and Sol- 
omon and Herodias and Pyramus and Thisbe, all inscribed 
with their names in French Gothic. The inscriptions read: 

Par cupido d’amours le dieu immonde 

Qui de son arc a faict plusieurs efforts 


Sont vaincus les preux hardis et fors 
Kit les plus grans representant le monde 


In translation: 


By Cupid the impure god of Love, 

Who with his bow has made many shots, 
Are conquered the heroes bold and strong, 
And the world’s greatest personages. 

Of special interest is the Austrian Triumph of Eternity 
with all the previous victors under the wheels of the chariot 
that is drawn by the four Evangelists in their customary sym- 
bolic forms (s. mathiew as a winged man, s. marc as a lion, 
s. luc as an Ox, Ss. ian as an eagle, all with halos), while on the 
chariot, cushioned on clouds and framed with clouds and 
angels rests a huge globe-and-cross-of-empire bearing the 
Trinity, Christ nailed to the Cross, the Holy Spirit in the 
form of a dove; and God the Father, with papal crown, sup- 
porting on outstretched hands the horizontal bar of the Cross. 

Interest in this set is increased by the fact that there are 
duplicates of two of the tapestries, Time and Fame, the latter 
incomplete, in the United States, formerly in the French 
& Co. collection. 

Of the Brussels Triumphs of Petrarch the Victoria and 
Albert Museum has three, Chastity, Death, and Fame, while 
Hampton Court has ie Fame, Time, nae two of Death 
making three Deaths in all, which must Rees come from three 


GOTHIC RELIGIOUS, ALLEGORICAL TAPESTRIES 71 


different sets. Each tapestry has two French Gothic inscrip- 
tions in the top border and one Latin Gothic inscription in 
the bottom border. The inscribed names are in Roman. 
Hach tapestry has not one scene, but two. The tapestry Death 
shows on the left the Fates attacking the unicorn-drawn chariot 
of Chastity, and on the right the Fates riding triumphant on 
their buffalo-drawn chariot. The tapestry Fame shows on the 
left Fame attacking the buffalo-drawn chariot of the Fates 
(Death), on the right Fame riding triumphant on her elephant- 
drawn chariot. 

These tapestries were woven in Brussels about 1510. The 
Victoria and Albert Chastity bears two dates, 1507 and 1510, 
which may have been the dates of beginning and completion. 


SUPPER AND BANQUET 


An allegorical set of five pieces in the museum of Nancy, 
the Condemnation of Supper and Banquet, pictures the 
dangers of the table. Those who have eaten not wisely but 
too well are attacked by numerous maladies personified. 
Finally (Plate IV, m) Lady Experience (dame estperiense) 
seated on her throne, with French Gothic inscription above, 
orders her officers to arrest alluring Supper and Banquet. 
On the right of the tapestry the officers execute the order. 
The various personifications are vivid and interesting, and 
the action as lively as in one of the plays or pageants on 
which the design of the tapestry was based. This set was 
made in Tournai about 1510. 


THE CERF FRAGILLE 


Five Late Gothic tapestries formerly in the Kermaingant 
collection (four of them illustrated on Plates LXXIII and 
LXXIV of Ganay 1913) and now in the United States in the 
collection of Mr. Arthur Lehman, show Man personified as a 
Gentle Stag (cerf fragille) wandering through the forest sub- 


712 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


ject to the attacks of the various infirmities of Human Nature. 
The story is told in French Gothic verses below. 

Developed and enlarged from one of these tapestries, with 
the inscription above and with the addition of interesting 
Tournai-style foliage, is the tapestry of the Wildenstein col- 
lection showing the Gentle Stag pursued by the dogs of Ignor- 


ance—Pride, Will, Haste—while Vanity blows her horn (Plate 
Aber R 





PLATE IV, b.—TWO OF THE FIVE FRAGMENTS OF THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM’S “SEVEN SACRAMENTS” 
ARE MOUNTED WRONG SIDE OUT. THIS IS ONE OF THEM. IT ILLUSTRATES THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY CELE- 


BRATION OF MARRIAGE, AND OF EXTREME UNCTION. 
SIDE OUT AND REVERSED 


NOTE THAT THE INSCRIPTIONS ABOVE ARE ALSO WRONG 





PLATE IV, C.—THE ORIGIN OF THE SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION AND TON— 
SURE, JACOB CONFIRMING TWO CHILDREN. ONE OF THE FIVE FRAGMENTS OF THE 
METROPOLITAN MUSEUM’S “‘SEVEN SACRAMENTS” 





PLATE IV, D.—CONFIRMATION AND TONSURE AS CELEBRATED IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 
MISSING FRAGMENT OF THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM’S “SEVEN SACRAMENTS”. LENT BY MISS 
ENID DU CANE TO THE VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM 





PLATES IV, €, €&.—CRUCIFIXION, WITH SUBORDINATE SCENES. TAP— 
ESTRY OF THE SECOND QUARTER OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY, MADE 
PROBABLY IN TOURNAI, BEQUEATHED BY FERDINAND THE CATHOLIC TO 
HIS SON ARCHBISHOP ALONSO, WHO BEQUEATHED IT TO THE CATHEDRAL 
OF LA SEO IN SARAGOSSA, WHERE IT STILL IS 


 , 


Ox yo 


x 
¢ 


ve 


- OK 
Le ee 


$ 


Por ae 
i) sees 





PLATES IV, f, fa, fb.—PLATE Iv, f, AT THE TOP OF THE PAGE, EARLY 
GOTHIC CRUCIFIXION, IN THE METROPOLITAN MUSUEM OF ART. PLATE IV, fa, 
IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PAGE, LATE GOTHIC ADORATION OF THE MAGI, IN THE 
METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART. PLATE Iv, fb, AT THE BOTTOM OF THE 
PAGE, THE TWO MARYS AND BARBARA, LATE GOTHIC VERDURE WITH PER— 
SONAGES, LOANED ANONYMOUSLY TO THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART 





CRUCIFIXION, AT THE 


CREATION, BAPTISM, NATIVITY, 


’ 


BOSTON MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS 


LATE GOTHIC CREDO TAPESTRY, IN FOUR SCENES 


PLATE IV, g. 








PLATE IV, h.—CHRIST PARTING FROM HIS MOTHER, DETAIL FROM THE MAGNIFICENT 
LARGE CREDO TAPESTRY FORMERLY IN THE CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO. DUVEEN BROS. 


GNVTION “‘HVVH AG 
OVAELVHO HHL NI MON ‘NOILOMTIOO VAIV GNV MOIMUMd GHL NI ATUAWUOA “SHOIA AHL LSNIVOV AILLVA NI LHDINY NVIL 


—-SIUHD V SV LSIYHO AM GAT SHNLYIA AHL HLIM ‘NOIXIaIOONNO ‘SHINAS NOILLVATVS SQOOWVA AHL WOXA—'I ‘AI ALVId 

















FROM 


) 


LAST JUDGMENT 


) 


, ASCENSION 


—BAPTISM 


. 


b 
S SALVATION SERIES 


TRIES FORMERLY IN THE BERWIC 


J, Ja, J 


) 


IV 


PLATES 
THE FAMOU 


SPLENDID TAPES— 
ALBA COLLECTION 


THREE HUGE AND 
TWO OF THESE ARE NOW IN THE COLLECTION OF MR. WILLIAM R 


K AND 


THE FIRST 


HEARST, 


THE LOUVRE 


ST IS IN 


THE LA 





PLATES IV, k, ka.—REDEMPTION, FROM THE FAMOUS SALVATION SERIES. 
FORMERLY IN THE COLLECTION OF CARDINAL WOLSEY, AND OF HENRY 
Vill, AND STILL AT HAMPTON COURT. NOTE THAT THE MIDDLE OF THE 
TAPESTRY APPEARS IN BOTH ILLUSTRATIONS 





COLLECTION OF MRS. NICHOLAS F. BRADY 


PLATE IV, 1.—PRODIGAL SON, A LATE GOTHIC TAPESTRY IN THE 


AONVN LY WOWSNW 
GHL NI TVYGAGS AUVY AYAHL HOIHM AO SAIMas addHos La LHNONVG,, SQOOWVA AHL JO ANO SI SIHL ‘divavw ‘ZAaNON 


—NVNYda AO AMNd AHL dO NOILOATIOON AHL NI AULSAMVL IVNUDOL OIHLOD ALVT V “HONGINadXa AGWI—‘Ur ‘AT aLV 1d 








‘ : ms 3 3 
e onatr § , : 3 ae 
P SUaSe Sey og ? » } eat 


* of 


ee We wee . a. 4 i" 4 ° % ‘ 
niet brug. ahorie tern be belie WE 2 A DEL TNR DAG f He 





PLATES IV, N, Na.—DISMISSAL OF VASHTI, FROM THE FAMOUS GOTHIC 
ESTHER SERIES. ONE OF THE THREE IN THE CATHEDRAL OF LA SEO, 
SARAGOSSA, BEQUEATHED BY DON ALONSO DE ARAGON, WHO INHERITED 
THEM FROM HIS FATHER, FERDINAND THE CATHOLIC, HUSBAND OF 
ISABELLA WHO HELPED COLUMBUS 





PLATE IV, 0.—ANNUNCIATION, WITH SUBORDINATE SCENES, SEVENTEEN FEET HIGH. 
ONE OF THE FAMOUS VIRGIN SERIES AT REIMS. GOTHIC—RENAISSANCE TRANSITION, WITH 
GOTHIC SPIRIT STILL DOMINANT IN THE MIDST OF RENAISSANCE FORMS. NOTE THE RENAIS— 
SANCE ORNAMENTATION OF THE BORDER AND OF THE PILASTERS 








GOTHIC TAPESTRY 


MACKAY’S 


TAIL FROM MR. 


DE 


PRIAM, 
ECTOR AND 


G 
H 


N 


Si 


PORTRAIT OF 


a. 


PLATE V, 


d 


DROMACHE’ 


AN 


3 


CHAPTER V 
GOTHIC HISTORICAL AND ROMANTIC TAPESTRIES 


THE GREAT TROJAN WAR SET, HERCULES, ALEXANDER THE GREAT 
IN AIRSHIP AND SUBMARINE, BRITAIN NAMED FROM BRUTUS, TAR- 
QUINIUS PRISCUS, BRENNUS SACKS ROME, THE BERNE CAESAR, THE 
REIMS CLOVIS, CHANSON DE GESTE TAPESTRIES, ROLAND, CHARLE- 
MAGNE, JOURDAIN DE BLAYE, THE SWAN KNIGHT 


Tne largest and most interesting group of Gothic His- 
torical tapestries that has survived pictures the Story of the 
Trojan War as told in French verse in the twelfth century, 
by Benoit de Sainte Maure in his roman de trove, and retold 
by others in Latin and in French, in prose and in verse, 
(Chapter XVIII). The importance of the set is such that I 
have devoted to it Plates V, a, b, c, ca, d, e, f, g, h; as well 
as Plates S, j, k,1,m of the Subscribers’ Edition. 

The finest piece in America is Mr. Mackay’s Hector and 
Andromache; with Andromache appealing to Hector, above; 
and Priam detaining Hector below; and with the story told in 
French Gothic verses, above; as well as in Latin Gothic 
verses, below (Plate V, b). The Latin ten-syllable rhymed 
verses read: 

Andromatha deflens cedidium. . Hectoris quod vidit dormiendo 
Affert prolem huic in remedium. Priamus hune vocat retinendo 


And in translation: 


Andromache bewailing the death of Hector seen in her sleep 
' Brings her children to prevent it. Priam calls Hector and detains him. 


The French ten-syllable rhymed verses read translated: 


Andromache fearing the death of Hector that in her dreams she had 
bewailed upon her knees, with great lamentation brought her children and 
besought him not to go out on that day. Despite which Hector had himself 
armed for battle, and mounted his horse. King Priam made him turn back, 
because of the pity he felt for Andromache. 

73 


TA THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


The upper scene of this tapestry (Plate V, b; also Plate 
S, J, of the Subscribers’ Edition) shows hector being armed 
by his squire for battle. Andromata kneels before him with 
her two children, holding the baby astronata (Asternates) in 
her arms, and clasping the hand of five-year-old Laudamanta 
who stands before her. Behind Andromache stand heline 
(Helen) and polizene (Polyxena) and heccuba (Hecuba), and 
another woman who with her hand wipes a tear from her 
eye. The picture is exquisite in composition and draftsman- 
ship, with faces and costumes beautifully developed. 

The lower scene of the tapestry shows (Plate V, b; also 
Plates 8S, k, 1, of the Subscribers’ Edition) hector de troie in 
full armor mounted on his beloved Galatee, whose trappings 
are magnificent, and noisy with bells pendant from lion heads. 
King Priam (Plate V, a, in colour), raising his left hand, for- 
bids Hector to go out to battle. Priam’s face is full of dignity 
and power. His hair and beard are patriarchal and superbly 
delineated and woven. His tall headdress is rich with jewels 
and circled with fleurs-de-lis. Hector who in the interval 
between scene one and scene two has lost his moustache (and 
perhaps his beard) listens unwillingly, almost sullenly. In 
scene one he listened to Andromache impatiently, even angrily. 

The armor of Hector and Galatee, as well as of Hector’s 
mounted followers is an important feature, drawn with spirit 
and fidelity. From the details shown in scenes one and two 
it would seem almost possible to reconstruct the different 
pieces of Hector’s suit. No wonder that this tapestry appeals 
so strongly to the learned and enthusiastic curator of the 
Arms and Armor department of the Metropolitan Museum 
Olevrt. 

THE LOUVRE SKETCHES 


Comparison of this tapestry with the corresponding Tro- 
jan War sketch in the Louvre (Chapter XVIII) indicates 
that the Louvre sketch is not the original design for the tap- 


HISTORICAL AND ROMANTIC TAPESTRIES 75 


estry, but copied from it, or from an inferior version, and 
perhaps made as we make photographs today, simply as a 
picture memorandum, or to make a woodcut from. The draw- 
ing of the sketch is ridiculously crude, and also later in 
style than Mr. Mackay’s tapestry. The groupings of the 
sketch are absurdly ineffective, and the many differences in 
detail betray the copyist who did not understand what he was 
copying. ‘The faces and hands in the sketch are awkward and 
ugly caricatures. The armor is even worse. In other words 
while the tapestry is a great work of art, the sketch is crude 
and weak. 


ULYSSES AND DIOMEDES AT PRIAM’S COURT 


The next best Trojan War tapestry in America is in the 
Edson Bradley collection (Plate V, h). It pictures Ulysses 
and Diomedes at Priam’s Court, sent as ambassadors to 
demand the return of Helen; and in a subordinate scene in 
the right upper corner King Teuthras (le roy teutran) of 
Mysia, killed by Achilles (achille) who had gone with Telephus 
on a foraging expedition. In the lower right corner of the 
tapestry Ulysses (ulixes) and Diomedes (diomedes) stand 
before the palace door (over which is inscribed le grant pales 
de troie) looking up at the marvelous Golden Tree. The 
horses from which they have dismounted stand beside them, 
in the care of a varlet. In the main scene on the left Ulysses 
and Diomedes present their message to King Priam beside 
whose throne stand his sons Hector and Paris and Deiphobus 
and Troilus. The demand of the Greeks is incontinently 
refused because of the grief felt by Priam at the refusal of 
the Greeks to return his sister Hesione. The story is told in 
French Gothic verses above and in Latin Gothic verses below. 

Also extremely interesting are Mr. Kahn’s three frag- 
ments the Funeral of Hector, Palamedes killing Paris, and the 
Centaur, formerly at the Chateau de Sully. But the Latin 
inscriptions are missing, and the French inscriptions that 


76 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


belong above, have been pieced together incorrectly, and 
applied below at the bottom of the wrong scenes. For 
example the right two-thirds of the inscription attached below 
the Funeral of Hector is part of the inscription belonging to 
the Centaur scene. 

THE FUNERAL OF HECTOR 


After Achilles killed Hector, not face to face, but catching 
him off his guard, the Greeks asked for a two months’ truce 
to give time for the recovery of Achilles from his wounds. 
The Trojans willingly granted the truce, in order to be able 
to celebrate the funeral of Hector fittingly. For fifteen days 
the Trojans kept the body of Hector in solemn state at the 
temple of Jupiter inside the city. Then on the master altar 
of the rich temple of Apollo, near the gate Timbree, outside 
the city next the Greeks, they erected a marvelous tabernacle, 
and inside of it a throne exceeding rich. On the throne they 
placed the body of Hector, seated and in full armor and sup- 
ported by a chain from behind (Plate V, d). In Hector’s 
right hand is his drawn sword, as if threatening the Greeks, 
while his shield, resting on the floor beside him and sup- 
ported by his left hand, displays his ‘‘lion rampant in 
red on gold.’’ Behind the throne the service is intoned by 
men with faces made powerfully vivid through masterful 
use of ribs and hatchings, and of slits both horizontal and 
stepped (Plate V, 2). In front of the throne stand the 
mourners (Plate V, d), on the right, Hecuba, Polyxena, 
Andromache, Helen, and others (Plate V, f); on the left, 
Priam and Troilus and Paris and others (Plate V, e). 

The second of Mr. Kahn’s Trojan War tapestries shows, 
above, Palamedes killing Deiphobus and killed by Paris; and 
below, Calchas urging the discouraged Greeks to fight on. 
The inscription consists of the first fourth of the odd lines, 
and the last three-fourths of the even lines, of an inscription 
referring to these scenes and the one preceding. 


HISTORICAL AND ROMANTIC TAPESTRIES 77 


The third of Mr. Kahn’s Trojan War tapestries showing 
the Centaur (sagittaire) in action (Plate S, m) is a duplicate . 
of the middle half of No. 240 of the Heilbronner collection 
(Sale catalogue, Paris, 1921). The Heilbronner Centaur 
still retains the Latin Gothic inscription below, as well as 
most of the French Gothic inscription above, which reads, 
with the assistance of the Centaur inscription below Mr. 
Kahn’s Funeral of Hector: 


Achilles vint impetueusement. En bataille ou tau ung joyant. 

Qui combatoit mult vertueusement. Fort terrible nomme hupon le grant. 
Le sagitaire orrible et espatant. Polixenar tua en cest effort. 
Diomedes vertueux et puissant. Le sagitaire occit et mist a mort. 


In translation: 


Achilles came impetuously into battle, where he killed a giant who 
fought with great bravery, a terrible man whose name was Hupon le Grand. 
The Centaur horrible and awful, killed Polixenar in this combat. Diomedes 
brave and mighty slew and put to death the Centaur. 

The upper part of the Heilbronner Centaur shows achilles 
killing hupon le grand. In the middle-ground, diomedes with 
uplifted sword is about to strike the Centaur from whose huge 
bow an arrow flies. Polixenar (ponrpenar, in Roman letter- 
ing’), breast pierced by one of the Centaur’s arrows, falls from 
his horse. Beside Polixenar, in the foreground, is his rela- 
tive Telamon Ajax. In the lower right corner of the tapestry 
achilles and hector are having their famous interview, dur- 
ing the three months’ truce that followed this eighty days’ 
battle. The conversation, as developed by Benoit de Sainte 
Maure, makes Hector a much more attractive personality 
than Achilles. 

THE COMPLETE SET 


From my study of the Louvre sketches and of the tapes- 
tries that have survived, and with the assistance of Gédmez- 
Moreno’s splendid article in Arte Espanol, Madrid, 1919, 
pages 265-289, I conclude that the great Gothic Trojan War 


78 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


series of the French Court of Burgundy consisted of at least 
twelve tapestries, each 1514 feet high by 31 feet long, (with 
four French Gothic inscriptions above, and four Latin Gothic 
inscriptions below, except that the last tapestry of the set 
had one more inscription above, and one below) making a 
total length for the set of 372 feet, with 49 French inscriptions 
and 49 Latin inscriptions. Both French and Latin inscrip- 
tions consist of ten-syllable lines woven in double width. The 
French are octets rhymed ababbc be; the Latin are qua- 
trains rhymedabab. The twelve tapestries named from the 
most striking event in each, are: 


I. Judgment of Paris. 
II. Elopement of Helen. 
III. Ulysses and Diomedes at Priam’s Court. 
IV. First Battle. 
V. Fourth Battle. 
VI. Hector and Andromache. 
VII. Heetor killed by Achilles. 
VIII. Palamedes killed by Paris. 
IX. Achilles killed by Paris. 
X. Arrival of Penthesilea. 
XI. Penthesilea killed by Pyrrhus. 
XII. Troy Captured. 


The designs of Tapestries IV and V have been preserved 
to us in the Louvre sketches only. The tapestries that sur- 
vive, as shown by the triplication of parts of Tapestry VI at 
Zamora and in Mr. Mackay’s and Mr. Kahn’s collections, 
belonged to at least three different sets, probably more. 

Of the Trojan War tapestries that I have already 
described, Mr. Kahn’s Centaur, the Heilbronner Centaur, and 
Mr. Mackay’s Hector and Andromache are part of Tapestry 
VI; Mr. Kahn’s Funeral of Hector, of Tapestry VII; Mr. 
Kahn’s Palamedes killed by Paris, of Tapestry VIII; Mr. 
Bradley’s Ulysses and Diomedes, of Tapestry III. 


HISTORICAL AND ROMANTIC TAPESTRIES 79 


TROJAN WAR TAPESTRIES IN EUROPE 


The most important Trojan War tapestries in Europe are: 
in the courthouse of Issoire, the left half of Tapestry I, the 
left three-fourths of Tapestry VI, three fragments from 
Tapestry XI; in the Victoria and Albert Museum, the left 
three-fourths of Tapestry X (Plate 59 of Hunter 1912); in 
the Duke of Alba’s palace at Seville, the whole of Tapestry 
XI; in the Cathedral of Zamora, the whole of Tapestries I, 
TX, XII, and the right three-fourths of Tapestry VI, the left 
fourth of which was injured by fire, cut off and sold in 1906. 
So that the Zamora collection far excels all the others. 

Tapestry XII, the Capture of Troy, I have illustrated from 
the unique example at Zamora, the left three-fifths on Plate 
V, ¢, the right three-fifths on Plate V, ca, thus duplicating the 
middle fifth. The catalogue of the Madrid Exposition 1892-3, 
Room VI, No. 100, contains a transcription, with minor errors, 
of the five French and five Latin inscriptions. It is interest- 
ing to note that the famous Horse which in Virgil was of 
wood is here of bronze (le grant cheval darain). 

The palaces and temples of the city of Troy furnish a 
splendid architectural background, with the sea in the dis- 
tance on the extreme left and extreme right. In the upper 
left corner, on the city wall, stands Helen, her name woven into 
her headdress, looking towards the sea and the ships of the 
Greeks. In the foreground on the left, the Horse, and the 
Greeks making carnage, among them, Synon, agamemnon, 
and diomedes. 

In the upper middle part of the tapestry, Hecuba, Polyxena, 
and Antenor. At the right, below, Pyrrhus slaying Priam in 
the temple of Apollo. Above, to the right, Cassandra, Andro- 
mache, and Ajax Telamon. Just below, Hecuba, gone mad at 
sight of her beautiful daughter Polyxena (below, to the right) 
being beheaded by Pyrrhus on the tomb of Achilles. This is 


one of the finest and most dramatic scenes of the whole Trojan 
7 


80 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


War group. The tomb bears in Latin Gothic hexameters, 
the inscription: 

Achilles, conqueror of Hector (in the words of Virgil) fell, his feet 
pierced by the arrow of Paris. 

At the end of the tapestry, is pictured the Author of the 
tapestries with his two assistants, who says, in the last 
French inscription: 

“Thus ends the piteous story of the city worthy of high renown, Troy 
the Great.” 

‘According to Gdmez-Moreno (Arte Espafiol 1919) the 
coats of arms woven into the four Zamora Trojan War tap- 
estries are those of the Mendozas granted by the Pope in 1486 
to the great Count of Tendilla and his descendants. But the 
tapestries look earlier. The sewed-on coats of arms are those 
of the Guzmans, Enriquez, and Toledos, subsequent owners 
of the tapestries, which in 1608 were presented to the Cathe- 
dral of Zamora by Don Antonio Enriquez de Guzman, Count 
of Alba. 

PENTHESILEA KILLED BY PYBRHUS 


I am especially indebted to the Duke of Alba for a photo- 
graph of, and notes about, his ‘‘Penthesilea killed by Pyr- 
rhus,’’ which the hot weather of the summer of 1923 prevented 
me from going to Seville to examine personally. This tapes- 
try, though badly repaired, is interesting and important. It 
is the second of the two tapestries (Nos. X, XI) called ‘‘Story 
of the Amazons’’ in the marriage contract of the Duke of 
Alba dated 1485, and valued at 44,352 maravedis. The 
ancient measurements would seem to indicate that the French 
inscriptions were then already missing. The right half of 
the tapestry pictures the treachery of Antenor and Aneas. 


HELEN OF TROY 
We now leave the great Trojan War group a moment 
for a set of later design and inspiration devoted to Helen of 
Troy, and illustrated on Plates V, i, ia; and on Plate S, r, of 


HISTORICAL AND ROMANTIC TAPESTRIES 81 


the Subscribers’ Edition. It is interesting to compare the 
‘‘Ulysses and Diomedes at the Court of Priam’’ of this set 
with the same subject as presented in Mr. Bradley’s tapestry 
(Plate V,h). The faces of this Story of Helen set are in fine 
condition (Plate S, r) although the names inscribed under the 
personages are almost invisible. The marriage of Paris and 
Helen (Plate V, ia) is a composition of especial charm. 


HERCULES AND THE TROJAN WAR 


While Homer’s Iliad begins in the middle of the story, 
with the quarrel between Agamemnon and Achilles, Benoit de 
Sainte Maure’s Romance of Troy that was the source of the 
ereat Trojan War Gothic tapestries, begins with the Expedi- 
tion of the Argonauts and the First Destruction of Troy, that 
took place when Laomedon, father of Priam, was King of 
Troy, and while Priam was absent from home. Consequently 
it seems probable that three tapestries now in the possession 
of French & Co. were part of Trojan War sets. Two of them 
are duplicates, with one extended more to the left, the other 
extended more to the right. They show a palace with trovee 
(Troy) over the doorway, and a ship labeled de gresse (From 
Greece). Inside the yard of the castle, stands Laomedon, 
sceptre in hand, surrounded by his courtiers. In front of the 
castle, just out of the boat that brought them from the ship, 
stand Jason and Hercules, waiting for the message from 
Laomedon. One of the two tapestries has a Latin Gothic 
inscription at the top—one quatrain and part of another. The 
complete quatrain reads: 

Iason et hercules euntes in colchon. 
in quodam portu troiano quieuerunt. 


“quod cum compertum regi laomedon fuisset. 
dussit per legatum ut sine mora recederent. 


Jason and Hercules on their way to Colchos 

Stopped at a Trojan port. 

When this became known to King Laomedon 

He ordered them through an officer to leave without delay. 


82 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


The third of the three tapestries is a battle scene with 
the city of Troy in the background, and with erculle (Her- 
cules) prominent among the mounted warriors. The action 
is spirited and shows how vigorously fifteenth century knights 
in armor struggled for victory. This is the battle that resulted 
in the First Destruction of Troy. 


THE STORY OF HERCULES 


A Hercules Gothic tapestry, not connected with the Trojan 
War group, is the incomplete one, with inscriptions missing, 
in the Brussels Cinquentenaire Museum (Plate 389 of Hunter 
1912), made at Tournai near the end of the fifteenth cen- 
tury. In the lower left corner, Hercules receives his first 
bath, while his mother atcmena watches from her bed. Above, 
the infant Hercules strangles the two dragons sent by Juno 
to kill him. In the middle foreground, Hercules appears at 
the Court of Hurystheus (ErtsrEvs) ; above, he shoots with bow 
and arrow; to the right, he engages in a jousting contest. 

In the Daniel Guggenheim collection are four Story of 
Hercules tapestries made at Tournai about 1515, with inscrip- 
tions missing. Of one of these there is a duplicate, with 
French Gothic inscription above, at Hampton Court (Plate 
LVIII of the catalogue of the Franco-British Exhibition, 
1921). It shows the death of Hercules on the pyre he had 
built and lighted to end the tortures inflicted by the shirt 
dipped in the blood of the centaur Nessus, which his jealous 
wife Dejaneira sent him, in order to punish him for his infi- 
delity. In a separate scene in the upper right corner of the 
tapestry, diamra is seen giving the shirt to the messenger. | 
At the left end of the Hampton Court tapestry appears part 
of a ‘‘ Diomedes devoured by his Horses’? scene, of which 
there was more when I first saw the tapestry in 1907. A 
millefleur tapestry in the Musée des Arts Décoratifg shows 
hercules with spiked club standing between a lion that sym- 


HISTORICAL AND ROMANTIC TAPESTRIES 83 


bolizes Bravery, and Cupid who symbolizes Love. A patch 
hides the Cupid scene which I suspect is immodest. 


NEPTUNE AND MESTRA 


Other Gothic mythological tapestries are the two from 
the end of the fifteenth century in the Brussels Museum of 
Painting, formerly in the famous Somzée collection (Nos. 531, 
532, of the sale catalogue, Brussels, 1901), picturing the 
Story of Neptune and Mestra, not as told in book VIII of 
Ovid’s Metamorphoses, but based on a different and more 
extended version. One of the tapestries is inscribed at the 
{0p HERESITON. NEPTVM. MESTRA; the other, DEANA, NEPTVNVS. 
MESTRAM. Hrisichthon was punished with insatiable hunger 
for having cut down a tree sacred to Ceres. The more he 
ate, the more he wanted. What would be enough for whole 
cities, was not enough for him. In the effort to satisfy his 
hunger, he exhausted his fortune, and finally sold his 
daughter Mestra to get money for more food. Mestra appealed 
to her sweetheart Neptune, who gave her the power of 
changing her form at will. Thus she escaped from slavery, 
and returned to her father, who sold her again and again, 
until finally in a paroxysm of hunger, he tore and devoured 
his own flesh, and died. 

Part of another Late Gothic mythological set are the two in 
Mr. Hearst’s collection picturing scenes from the Story of 
Perseus and Andromeda. 


ALEXANDER THE GREAT 


The Alexander the Great Gothic tapestries, is by no 
means the actual personage who conquered Darius and against 
whose father Demosthenes delivered his philippics. The 
Alexander the Great of Gothic tapestries, is even less like the 
real Alexander, than the Mary of Burgundy of the cinema is 
like the real Mary of Burgundy. The Alexander the Great of 


84 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


Gothic tapestries, is a romantic creation of the historical 
novelists of the Middle Ages, who made ancient history easy to 
understand by bringing it up to,date and by giving free rein 
to both imagination and memory. In their development of 
stories that cling and incidents that thrill, they borrowed much 
from the romantic Kast. So that the scenarios of Gothic tap- 
estries are crowded with interest. 

The most important Alexander the Great tapestries that 
have survived (Plates V, k, ka are the two in the Palazzo 
Doria, Rome (Plates VII and VIII of Kurt Tournai), each 
13 feet high and 33 feet long; and the three fragments in the 
Petit Palais, Paris, formerly in the Ainard collection. The 
first Doria tapestry shows on the left, Alexander taming 
Bucephalus, the horse that had two horns and lived on human 
flesh and that no one could ride. But no sooner did Buceph- 
alus look at fifteen-year-old Alexander than he knew his 
master, and in the tapestry we see Alexander riding leisurely 
out of the stable, the floor of which is deep with human bones. 
Above, Alexander is congratulated by his proud father and 
mother. On the right half of the tapestry, Pausanias who 
had stolen Alexander’s mother and mortally wounded his 
father is captured by the youthful Alexander and brought 
to his father’s bedside to be stabbed by the latter. The last 
scene shows the coronation of Alexander by his dying father. 

The three Petit Palais fragments, from a different set 
woven later, and showing Bucephalus with one horn instead 
of two, were originally all part of one tapestry, the smallest 
piece coming in the middle, and the largest piece at the right. 
While the Doria tapestries have no inscriptions, the two 
larger Petit Palais fragments have Latin Gothic inscriptions 
at the bottom. King Nicolas sent messengers to collect trib- 
ute from Alexander’s father. Alexander thereupon invaded 
the country of Nicolas, killed him, and captured his capital 
city of Caesarea. The design of the last scene with many 


HISTORICAL AND ROMANTIC TAPESTRIES 85 


details modified and crudely drawn appears on an ancient 
colored pen-and-ink sketch in the British Museum (Plate A of 
an article by A. EH. Popham in the Burlington Magazine of 
August, 1924). 


ALEXANDER THE GREAT IN AIRSHIP AND SUBMARINE 


The second Doria tapestry gets interest not from the 
battle on the left, but from the scenes on the right which I 
have illustrated, Alexander in an Airship (Plate V, k) and 
Alexander in a Submarine (Plate V, ka). The airship made 
of wood and leather had as motive power four griffins that 
flew always towards two legs of meat at the end of two poles 
held by Alexander (See the illustration). As long as Alex- 
ander held the meat above their heads the griffins flew up. 
When he inverted the poles, the griffins descended. Note 
God in Heaven above watching Alexander ascend, and down 
below Aristotle and Alexander’s other teachers waiting for 
him to descend, which he did when the upper air got too 
hot. Plate V, ka, shows not only the trip in the submarine, 
but also some of the weird creatures Alexander encountered 
in the desert, notably men with their faces below their shoul- 
ders. In the midst of the four boats can be seen the face of 
Alexander in a barrel of glass suspended from one of the 
boats by three chains. After Darius died leaving his empire 
and his daughter to Alexander, the latter, apparently blasé, 
had said to his companions: ‘‘I have conquered Rome, 
Apulia, Calabria, Africa. I know the inhabitants of the land 
well enough. I wish to get acquainted with those of the 
sea.’?’ However, all that Alexander seems to have discovered 
in his submarine was that ‘‘the big fish eat the little ones,’’ 
which he already knew was the rule on terra firma. 

A tapestry illustrated by Jubinal, the present location of 
which I have been unable to discover, had an inscription 
showing that it pictured Alexander in Italy. 


86 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


TARQUINIUS PRISCUS 


Superior to Alexander in design and weave, is the Story 
of Tarquin at Zamora. This tapestry bears at the top the 
same coats-of-arms as the four Zamora Trojan War pieces. 
It has at the top two long prose Latin Gothic inscriptions 
with part of a third on the right. These inscriptions were 
transcribed in the catalogue of the Madrid Exposition 1892-3, 
Room VI, No. 99. The architectural framework of the tap- 
estry is of extraordinary excellence, with the royal palace in 
the middle foreground, backgrounded at the sides by the 
Gothic walls and towers and monumental buildings of ancient 
Rome, as imagined by French painters of the fifteenth cen- 
tury. Lucinus was a wise and rich Etruscan who emigrated 
to Rome with all his followers. As the train approached the 
new home an eagle swooped down and carried away the hat 
of lucinus, afterwards returning it. From this, tanaqual 
wife of Lucinus argued that he was to rise to the summit of 
power among the Romans. The costumes and faces of Tana- 
quil and her lady attendant, both mounted, are most attrac- 
tive. Humorously the artist has given the horse of one of 
the followers, goat’s horns like those of Alexander’s Buceph- 
-alus. (Compare the Doria Alexander tapestries.) In 
Rome, on account of the novelty of his coming and the great 
variety of his riches, Lucinus had his name changed by his 
fellow citizens to pristus tarquinus (Tarquinius Priseus), and 
when Ancus Martius died, Tarquinius Priscus was crowned 
King of the Romans. This coronation occupies the middle 
of the tapestry, with masons in the foreground under the 
King’s direction building the famous Etruscan sewers for 
the drainage of Rome (among them the Cloaca Maxima). 
On the right of the tapestry, Tarquin with the first two letters 
of s. Pp. ga. R. on his shield, leads his troops against the Latins, 
with whom he afterwards formed a confederation. The archer 
and the wounded knight falling from his horse, in the fore- 
ground, are pictured vividly. 


HISTORICAL AND ROMANTIC TAPESTRIES 87 


BRITAIN NAMED FROM BRUTUS 

A splendid tapestry in the style of the great Trojan War 
group, 1s the one at Saragossa, 12 feet high by 26 feet long, 
picturing part of the Story of Brutus (Plate XLI of Bertaux 
Saragossa). Because of the number of ships shown, this is 
known as the Ship Tapestry. It has four Latin Gothic 
inscriptions at the top. Brutus, the grandson of Aineas, is a 
romantic hero developed in the Middle Ages, from whom 
Britain was supposed to get its name. Brutus, having killed 
his father while hunting, was forced to leave Italy for Greece 
where he found Priam’s son Helenus and other Trojans who 
had been made captives by Achilles’ son Pyrrhus. Brutus 
organized a revolt against the King of the Greeks, Pandrasus, 
defeated him and made him prisoner. Here the tapestry be- 
gins. After marrying Jgnoge daughter of pandrasus, brutus 
says goodbye to his father-in-law who stands on the shore, and 
sails forth with the Trojans in search of anew home. Above 
this scene, to the right, on a deserted island, is the altar of 
Diana (diana) whose oracle told Brutus that he was destined 
to found a new T'roy on a distant island where the sun sets. 
Sailing west past Gibraltar, Brutus lands in Aquitaine and 
defeats King Gopharius. The battle is vividly portrayed. 
Here the tapestry ends. Brutus then sailed to Albion, and 
on the bank of the Thames founded a new Troy, the name of 
which in the reign of Lud who fought Julius Caesar, was 
changed to Ludton (London). Bertaux suggests that the set 
of tapestries of which this is one may have been woven in 
honor of the English Princess Margaret of York who mar- 
ried Charles the Bold in 1468. 


BRENNUS, BRITISH KING OF GAUL 

A little later in date, but rich with the qualities of the 
middle of the century, is a tapestry now in America (Plate 
XXI, b) picturing the surrender of Rome to Brennus, British 


88 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


King of Gaul. Here we see how completely history was 
rewritten into romance in the Middle Ages. The story of this 
tapestry is based, not on Livy or Plutarch, or Polybius, but 
on Geoffrey de Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britannie, or 
on Wace’s Roman de Brut, both of the twelfth century, or 
still more probably on the amplified version found in the 
fourteenth century French romance of Perceforest. 

In these romances, Brennus, though King of Gaul, was 
not a Gaul by birth, but a Briton, of Trojan descent, and in 
his conquest of Rome had associated with him his elder 
brother, Belinus, King of Britain. After the conquest, 
Belinus went back to Britain, but Brennus remained in Italy 
where he ruled with an iron hand. In the tapestry, Brennus 
appears twice: once on the right, mounted, and once on the 
left, with plumed hat instead of crown, but with brennus 
woven into his robe to establish his identity, standing next 
lus crowned brother Belinus who is distributing the ransom 
paid by the Romans. The other personages in the left half 
of the tapestry are the Gallic and British knights of Brennus 
and Belinus. On the right, suppliant before Brennus are the 
unfortunate citizens of Rome, men and women and a child, 
headed by their bishop who wears a mitre. The burgher in 
the extreme foreground brings the keys of the city. In the 
upper right corner, several of the invaders with booty. 

This tapestry is of supreme excellence in design and weave, 
especially as regards the faces, of which there are 34 devel- 
oped to show extraordinary individuality. The powerful 
modeling of the faces is due to marvelous skill in the use of 
open slits, which are the most difficult and the most neces- 
sary feature of tapestry weaving. The vivacious and vibrant 
quality of the hair, the draperies, and the architecture, is due 
to the same skilful use of open slits. The three horses are 
masterpieces that show how far beyond painting is tapestry 
when contrasts are necessary. 


HISTORICAL AND ROMANTIC TAPESTRIES 89 


THE BERNE CAESAR 

The four Story of Caesar tapestries in the Berne museum 
(Plate V, j) are a little earlier than the Trojan War group. 
An excellent book on these Caesar tapestries, with text by 
Dr. Artur Weese, and with large illustrations in color, was 
published in Berne in 1911. The height of the tapestries is 
13% feet, with lengths ranging from 20% to 23% feet. They 
are probably the four confiscated by Charles the Bold, Duke 
of Burgundy, from the estate of Louis de Luxemburg, Count 
of St. Pol, in 1475, and by Charles the Bold presented to his 
faithful follower Count Guillaume de la Baume, whose coat- 
of-arms is sewed on the tapestries. Next they passed, by 
cift or bequest, to the Cathedral of Lausanne, and in 1536 to 
the city of Berne. They were made about 1450, probably at 
Tournai, and are based on one of the numerous semt-his- 
torical Roman histories that supplemented the ancient author- 
ities with extracts from medieval romantic poems. A four- 
teenth century manuscript that may have been used by the 
author of the tapestries is Nos. 9104 and 9105 in the Biblio- 
théque Royale of Brussels. It has many illustrations and an 
inventory shows us that it was still in the possession of the 
Duke of Burgundy in 1467. The subjects of the tapestries are: 

I. Departure of Caesar for Gaul. Caesar receives Gallic ambassadors. 

II. Victory of Caesar over Ariovistus. Caesar’s Expedition to Britain. 


IIT. Caesar’s Passage of the Rubicon. Victory of Caesar at Pharsalus. 
TV. Triumph and Assassination of Caesar. 


The one I have chosen for illustration (Plate V, j) is the 
last, picturing, on the left, the Triumph of Caesar; on the 
right, his Assassination. The French Gothic inscription in 
rhyme reads: 

Then he wishes to return to Rome, where all who loved him and desired 
to increase his fame, sought to honor his triumph. And then they elected 
him the first emperor, in order to increase his power, and reveal him com- 


pletely as a super-glorious prince. 
Among nine of the world’s greatest and altogether valiant Heroes, said 


90 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


Julius Caesar is one as proved by universal agreement. The memory of his 
heroism and his glory will last forever, and the robust valor of which his 
heart was full, and of his deeds noble and chivalrous as of a Hero among 
Heroes, so that the brilliance of his reputation will never be extinguished. 
As long as the world shall last, his fame and valor will not fall. So be it 
granted by Him who gives glory and mercy to all. 


In the Triumph scene, cesar sits on a curule chair in a 
canopied litter, borne by two damask-draped horses in front 
and two others behind, and by two lackeys on each side. Cos- 
tumes, faces, architecture, verdure, are all of the Court of 
Philip the Good from 1440 to 1450. Caesar wears a long dam- 
ask robe belted tight at the waist. His brocaded and ermine- 
lined cloak, which also reaches to his feet, is held at the neck by 
a broad collar rich with huge jewels. His crown of gold and 
laurel rests upon a felt hat with ermine brim. He earries 
neither sceptre nor arms. His hands are bare and rest on his 
hips. The procession is preceded by two trumpeters who 
swell their faces furiously in the effort to make an amount 
of noise worthy of the dignity of Caesar. The two mounted 
nobles, just behind Caesar, wear short jackets trimmed with 
fur, and large hats with wide rolled brims. Judging by the 
richness of costume of himself and horse, the youth in red at 
the left end of the tapestry, with golden collar of rare maegnifi- 
cence, and with chain of gold for hat band, should be Augus- 
tus. Knights in armor bring up the rear. In the distance 
are seen mountains and castles, and a fox crossing’ an open 
field. All this glory had to have a foil. In the middle fore- 
ground of the tapestry men and women come to meet Caesar. 
At their head are the prophet Spurinna, and Caesar’s wife, . 
Calpurnia. Spurinna, with arms lifted high, appeals to 
Caesar earnestly, while Calpurnia on her knees implores him. 
Spurinna, without hat, wears a green robe, brocaded and 
trimmed with fur. A heavy gold chain with pendant adorns 
his neck, and a cutlass hangs from his belt. Calpurnia, with 
rich jewelry hiding her decolleté, with wide green belt com- 


HISTORICAL AND ROMANTIC TAPESTRIES 91 


pressing her waist, and with rosary wound around her left 
arm, wears an enormous two-horned hennin with transparent 
veil. Her attendant lady has a hennin even more monu- 
mental, but made of heavy material. Inside the wall and gate 
is pictured the Assassination of Caesar, but without action. 
The only sign of the approaching tragedy are the daggers held 
by caton and bruteus, who stand on each side of the magnificent 
Gothic throne where chesar sits, sceptre in hand and crowned. 
In the street outside, a horseman and citizens, and across the 
street, the faces of beautiful ladies framed. by the windows 
through which they look, none of them apprehensive of what 
is about to happen. 
THE REIMS CLOVIS 

The two Clovis tapestries at the Cathedral of Reims, 
which during the war were removed for safe keeping, are 
probably part of the set of six displayed on the occasion of the 
marriage of Margaret of York to Charles the Bold in 1468 
(Consult Sartor Reims). Inherited by the Emperor Charles 
V, the tapestries were found in his captured baggage after he 
raised the unsuccessful siege of Metz, and became the property 
of Duke Francis of Guise. In 1573 they were presented to 
the Cathedral of Reims by Charles de Guise, Cardinal of Lor- 
raine. In 1840 there were still four of them in existence, 
illustrated in Paris Reims, beside fragments of another. Now 
there remain only two of them, each with four French Gothic 
prose inscriptions at the top. The first (Plate 299 of Hunter 
1912) which was the first of the set, is 1514 feet high by 29 
feet long and shows the Coronation of Clovis, and the Siege 
and Capture of the City of Soissons. The banner of Clovis 
bears three frogs, the traditional ancient arms of France. 
The second of the two tapestries, 1514 feet high by 31 feet 
long shows: the Foundation in Paris of the Church of Saints 
Peter and Paul, later Sainte Geneviéve, now Saint Etiennne 
du Mont; the Defeat of King Gondebaud of Burgundy; the 
Preparation for Battle against Alaric; the Stag guiding Clovis 


92 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


to a safe Ford across the River. The story of each tapestry 
is told in four French Gothic prose stanzas at the top. 

The stanzas of the first tapestry read in translation: 

In the present story is shown the life of King Clovis, King of France, 
and the first chapter treats of how said Clovis, son of King Childerie and his 
wife Queen Baronne, after the death of his father was crowned King with 
great magnificence. 

After which coronation, celebrated with abundance of honour and nobility, 
this King Clovis summoned the warriors of all the country, and assembled 
them with the intention of going to besiege the city of Soissons. 

And with a multitude of warriors and the war equipment necessary for 
the undertaking, the said Clovis sets forth, and pushed his siege of the said 
city of Soissons, and on his side were performed many heroic deeds before the 
place aforesaid. 

And finally as the result of prowess and valor, he conquered and brought 
to obedience this city, and drove out of it Soages [Syagirius], commander 
of the said place, who was the son of Gillon the Roman. 


CHANSON DE GESTE TAPESTRIES 


We now come to tapestries based ultimately on twelfth 
and thirteenth century French chansons de geste—historical 
novels in verse portraying the romantic deeds of Charlemagne 
and his followers. I say ultimately because the direct sources 
were usually fifteenth century French prose compilations 
with stories that often differ much from any chansons de geste 
that have survived, and that sometimes are closely related to 
versions in Latin verse or prose. For example, the large 
incomplete tapestry in the Brussels Cinquentenaire Museum 
(Plate 61 of Hunter 1912) which pictures ‘‘ Roland at Ronce- 
vaux,’’ does not follow the Chanson de Roland, the chan- 
son de geste that is regarded as the great national epic of 
France. It follows instead a Latin prose version of the Span- — 
ish campaigns of Charlemagne, the Chronicle of Turpin (Con- 
sult Bédier Epiques) dating from the middle of the twelfth 
century. The presence of this important tapestry in a Brussels 
museum is a perpetual reminder to the Belgians that during 
the Middle Ages and until the end of the fifteenth century, 


HISTORICAL AND ROMANTIC TAPESTRIES 93 


the art and the literature of the Netherlands were gloriously 
French in form and inspiration. 

In the middle of the left half of the tapestry rolant seated 
on Veillantif splits the head of the Saracen king marsille with 
his good sword durendal. In the right half of the tapestry 
yolant appears four times: (1) Fights mounted, his horn 
hanging behind him, and his sword swung back over his head 
to the left; (2) Above, to the right, blows his horn to recall 
Charlemagne; (3) Below, looks at the rock on which he tried 
to render durendal useless; but durendal splits the rock 
without being dulled; (4) In the lower right corner, reclines 
against a tree, while brother bawduin rides away with Roland’s 
horse, horn, and sword. Just above bauduin, in an adjacent 
valley, is baligant, brother of marsille. 

The two complete French Gothic stanzas at the top of 
the Cinquentenaire Roland read in translation: 

‘Two pieces he made of the stone of marble, without dull- 
ing the sword of fine steel. Then half dead he lay down 
against a tree, giving thanks to Jesus, the king divine. There 
he was found by his brother Baudouin, to whom he complained 
of thirst. But Baudouin could find neither water nor wine to 
relieve the strong and terrible burning. Baudouin takes horse, 
horn, and sword, and rides away fearing the Saracens. Now 
comes Thierry and sees all cut to pieces the flesh of Roland 
who groans heavily, calling on God who knows all and con- 
quers all; and Thierry weeps at the piteous cries. Thus this 
good Roland, martyr of Jesus Christ, gave up his spirit like 
a saint.”’ 

The last words of the fragment of a stanza at the left, 
‘he has cut,’’ refer to the head of marsille. 


APPARITION OF SAINT JAMES 


How Charlemagne first came to go to Spain is pictured in 
a precious tapestry fragment in bad condition, lent by Major 
J. J. Astor to the Franco-British Exhibition of Textiles in 


94 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1921, No. 59 of the catalogue. 
Part of the almost illegible French Gothic inscription at the 
top says: ‘‘T’he king had forty knights: watching at the 
foot of his bed,’’ and ‘‘T'’hen came Saint James who told him 
to go to Spain.’’ The left two-thirds of the tapestry shows 
carle in bed, surrounded by knights with swords and huge 
lighted candles. The figure above the bed is s. caque. The 
right third of the tapestry shows Charlemagne setting forth 
for Spain as instructed by Saint James. Among Charle- 
magne’s companions are rolant and ogier. Charlemagne’s 
shield, largely restoration, shows the fleurs-de-lis of France. 


THE SWAN KNIGHT 


A later geste is that of Jourdain de Blaye, the beginning 
of which is pictured on a tapestry illustrated and described in 
Chapter III (Plate III, h). Still later is the Swan Knight 
(Chevalier au Cygne) one of three gestes that glorify the 
family of Godfrey de Bouillon, grandson of the Swan Knight. 
Philip the Good in 1462 bought a set of three tapestries pic- 
turing the Story of the Swan Knight, from Pasquier Grenier 
of Tournai. Possibly the piece in the Katherinenkirche at 
Cracow, 12 by 18 feet, as well as the smaller piece in the 
Vienna Museum of Art and Industry (Plates VII and VIII of 
Kurt Tournat) are part of this set. The first of the four 
scenes of the first tapestry shows Hlias feeding his swans. 
In the last of the four scenes Elias appears before King Oriens 
and Queen Beatrice. One ofthe two inscriptions reads: 
‘Afterwards the child Elias came before the king in judgment 
and said that he would champion his mother in the field with- 
out assistance.’’ The first of the two scenes of the Vienna 
tapestry shows the marriage of Elias to a princess. Later, 
of different design, and made at Brussels, is the Marriage of 
Oriens and Beatrice, formerly in the collection of Sir Richard 
Wallace, and now in the Stieglitz Museum at Leningrad. 
(Illustrated in colour in the Histoire Générale.) is 


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PLATE V, b.—MR. MACKAY’S HECTOR AND ANDROMACHE, ONE OF 
THE GOTHIC TROJAN WAR SERIES, WITH FRENCH INSCRIPTION ABOVE 
AND LATIN INSCRIPTION BELOW, AND PERSONAGES LABELED WITH 
THEIR NAMES. FORMERLY IN THE DOLLFUS COLLECTION 





PLATES V, C, Ca.—CAPTURE OF TROY, ONE OF THE FOUR TROJAN 
WAR TAPESTRIES AT THE CATHEDRAL OF ZAMORA. CONSPICUOUS IN 
THIS TAPESTRY ARE THE TROJAN HORSE OF BRONZE, AND PYRRHUS 
WHO SLAYS PRIAM AND POLYXENA, AND AT THE EXTREME RIGHT OF 
THE TAPESTRY THE AUTHOR AND HIS ASSISTANTS 


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PLATE V, d.—THE FUNERAL OF HECTOR, ONE OF MR. KAHN’S THREE GOTHIC TROJAN WAR 
TAPESTRIES, FORMERLY AT THE CHATEAU DE SULLY 




















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PLATE V, h.—MR. EDSON BRADLEY’S “ULYSSES AND DIOMEDES AT THE COURT OF 
PRIAM,” ONE OF THE FAMOUS TROJAN WAR SERIES, FORMERLY IN THE COLLECTION OF 
LORD HOWARD DE WALDEN 


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SEUM OF ART 


TROPOLITAN MU 


S IN THE ME 


GARDEN, ONE OF THE THREE LARGE AND BRILEIANT GOTHIC 
TAPESTRIE 


THE ROSE 
GARDEN” 


LATE VI, a. 


P 


CHAPTER VI 
GOTHIC COUNTRY LIFE TAPESTRIES 


UNICORN TAPESTRIES, MARRIAGE TAPESTRIES, HUNTING TAPESTRIES 

VISIT OF THE GYPSIES, FLIRTATION, MUSIC, HEROINES, VINTAGE AND 

WOOD CUTTERS, ROSE GARDEN, VERDURES WITH AND WITHOUT 
PERSONAGES, ARMORIALS, THE TOURNAI INDIES 


Tur great families of the fourteenth and fifteenth cen- 
turies lived largely out-of-doors. Their castles were a refuge 
from enemies and from bad weather, but when the sun shone 
and nature smiled, they picnicked perpetually in garden and 
field and wood. Even when indoors they liked to have the 
walls hung with out-of-doors tapestries, of which wonderful 
examples have come to America in the last ten years. 

Mr. Roekefeller’s Hunt of the Unicorn is the finest of all 
sets of Country Life tapestries (Plates VI, b, c,d, e, and 
Colour Plates S, a, b, of the Subscribers’ Edition). It con- 
sists of six tapestries, four of which date from about 1480, 
and were made by weavers with Tournai training. The other 
two, that supplement the orginal set, were made later, in 
France, from designs that show the influence of the Floren- 
tine Renaissance. The weave of the later two is inferior, and 
the figures spot against the background, paint-fashion. The 
set hung for centuries in the Chateau de Verteuil of the La 
Rochefoucauld family, in western France between Poitiers 
and: Angouléme. | 

The subjects of the tapestries are: 

(1) The Start 

(2) The Fountain 

(3) Crossing the Charente 
(4) Wounding a Dog 

(5) Death ‘of the Unicorn 

(6) The Unicorn in Captivity 


96 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5, are the four older tapestries; Nos. 1, 6, the 
later two. The unicorn appears in all of the tapestries except 
No. 1, and appears twice in No. 5. The costumes of several 
of the principal personages are rich with gold that is still 
fresh and bright. 

The letters a and E (the latter reversed) that are seen tied 
together with a tasseled cord in the corners and centre of most 
of the tapestries (Plate VI, b) and on the collars of sev- 
eral of the dogs, should be the initials of the lord and lady for 
whom the tapestries were made, probably those who are the 
centre of attention in Tapestry 5. 

While these are primarily hunting tapestries, that give a 
faithful and spirited picture of the life of the period, they 
are not merely hunting tapestries. The unicorn introduces 
just the element that would appeal to a lord and lady of the 
period who wished to emphasize the sanctity of their marriage. 
The unicorn, which in medieval tradition runs to put its head 
in the lap of a snow-white maiden, only, is symbolic of Christ, 
who through the Virgin Mary was brought down from Heaven 
for the Salvation of Man. Tapestry 2, the Fountain, recalls 
one of the traditions associated with the unicorn in the Bes- 
tiaries that explained to the people of the Middle Ages the 
habits and peculiar properties of animals, especially of the 
unfamiliar ones. This tradition was that the horn of the 
unicorn possessed remarkable powers of purification, and 
that the other animals of the forest, as seen in the Fountain 
tapestry (Plate VI, b) would not drink until he had first 
purified the pool by plunging his horn into it. Belief m 
the efficacy of the horn of the unicorn was carried so far 
that one of the most precious possessions of medieval nobles 
and princes was a piece of the horn mounted like a jewel, with 
which to test for poison the food and drink offered them. An 
inventory of 1391 includes: ‘‘A piece of unicorn with golden 
handle to test the food of Monseigneur the Dauphin’’; and 


GOTHIC COUNTRY LIFE TAPESTRIES 97 


one in an inventory of the Duke of Burgundy dated 1408: 
‘*A piece of unicorn, with silver tip, for testing.’’ 

In Tapestry 5 we see the Death of the Unicorn, but in Tap- 
estry 6, one of the later two, he has been resurrected, and is 
a Captive, chained to a tree, inside a round fence. The tree, 
it should be noted, is a pomegranate, the fruit of which is 
symbolic of Life, and of the perpetuation of a family through 
numerous children. Consequently we find it associated with 
portraits of the Emperor Maximilian, and of his grandson, the 
Kmperor Charles V, members of the Habsburg family which 
by marriage was said to gain what others had to fight for. 

The religious tone of the tapestries is accentuated by the 
AVE.REGINA.C. (Hail, Queen of Heaven) on a sword-scabbard 
in one of them. 

Possibly the r.r. applied on the canvas at the top of one 
of this set may be the initials of Francois de La Rochefoucauld, 
godfather of the French King Francis I. If the four older 
tapestries came to him by inheritance or gift, it would be 
natural for him to have his initials added in this manner. 
He died in 1516. 

I find it difficult to express in words my full admiration 
for these tapestries. The drawing is extraordinary. The 
personages are real living beings with character expressed 
in every face. The numerous dogs and other animals and 
birds are incomparably superior to any we find portrayed by 
modern tapestry artists or weavers, and equal to the finest of 
any period. No position was too difficult and no action too 
elusive to be caught by the eye and pencil of him who com- 
posed these tapestries. At trees and flowers and costumes 
he was equally strong. He understood what to stress and 
what to slur, and best of all he made cartoons that enabled 
great weavers to utilize all the possibilities of their marvelous 
art. Hspecially would I call attention to Plate VI, ¢c, a detail 
of the Fountain tapestry. The birds that stand on the marble 
rim are studies from life, quick and warm, developed by 


98 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


manipulation of bobbins to express what the painter sought 
but could not in his own medium make obvious. ‘The water 
stirred by the falling columns has the motion of real water, and 
reflects the image of the bird’s head just as real water would 
reflect it. The two letters attached to the fountain and 
the lion mask through which the water escapes, show how 
effectively gold and silver can be used in tapestry weaving. 
Perhaps the greatest scene of all is the one illustrated in 
colour on Plate 8, b, of the Subscribers’ Edition. Plate VI, b, 
illustrates the strength of faces and hands in both design 
and weave, marking clearly the position of the diagonal series 
of stepped slits that effect the modeling. The laciness of the 
hair and vibrant texture of the hat and pomegranate-pat- 
terned jacket of the young man in the foreground are due 
mainly to cunningly placed slits. The way the horizontal ribs 
of plain surfaces in high light are forced forward by perpen- 
dicular contrast with the vertical hatchings in middle light, 
which themselves stand upon the horizontal ribs in shadow, 
is demonstrated on the jacket of the young man at the left, 
as well as on the cape and wand of the young man in the fore- 
eround, and by the leaves of the foliage. 


THE CLUNY UNICORN 


The most famous Unicorn tapestries in the world are those 
at the Cluny Museum (Plates CLXIV to CLXVIII, in colour, 
of Demotte Gothic). Made in France near the end of the 
fifteenth century, with two feet of restoration at the bottom 
and in a weave much superior to the weave of the later two 
of the Rockefeller set, but much inferior to that of the earlier 
four of the Rockefeller set, they have for two generations 
been fascinating those who visit the Museum, and have won 
for themselves a permanent position in the world’s esteem. 
Even painters often attempt the hopeless task of copying them 
on canvas, and then hang the counterfeit arras on walls as a 


GOTHIC COUNTRY LIFE TAPESTRIES 99 


substitute for tapestry, as has been done in the Ladies Dining 
Room of the University Club of Chicago. From the weakness 
of the painted copies no one would suspect the strength of 
the originals. Almost as good as the painted copies are those 
block-printed on rep, that can be bought by the yard in the 
shops of many decorators. 

The tapestries were evidently made to celebrate the virtues 
of the richly gowned and richly jeweled lady who in all six 
is the central figure, supported by the Lion for Strength and 
the Unicorn for Purity. In four of the tapestries she is 
attended by her maid, and in two by her little pet dog. The 
coat-of-arms so often repeated, red with three silver cres- 
cents on diagonal band of blue, is that of the Le Viste family, 
lords of Fresne who gave a president to the French Parle- 
ment. The tapestries formerly hung in the Chateau de Bous- 
sac near Aubusson, and were sold to the Cluny Museum in 1882 
by the municipal authorities of Boussac, who had in 1837 
acquired them with the Chateau, still well preserved, that 
from a lofty rock dominates the valley of the Little Creuse. 

The subjects of the six tapestries are: 


I. Sicut, where the bust of the unicorn is reflected in a mirror held by 
the Lady. 

Il. Hearne, where the Lady plays a small organ that stands on a richly 

covered table, and is pumped by her maid (Plate 49 of Hunter 1912). 

III. Tastr, where the Lady feeds the parrot, and the monkey eats in the 
foreground. ‘ | | 

IV. SMELL, where the Lady weaves garlands of flowers and the monkey 
inhales the fragrance of a rose. 

V. Toucu, where the Lady touches and holds in one hand the standard 

| earrying the family flag, and feels the horn of the unicorn with 
the other. 

Vi. Mon ssvu pesir, (which in this tapestry appears on the frieze of the 
pomegranate-patterned flame-spotted round tent behind the Lady, 
with A at the left and 1 at the right, which may be the initials of 
the Lady and her Lover) suggests that “the one desire” is to make 
a home. 


100 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


These tapestries are just as much medallion tapestries as 
the Gobelin Don Quixotes and the Gobelin Bouchers of the 
eighteenth century, but handled in a Gothic instead of a Louis 
XV manner. While the ground is a brilliant red, strong blue 
is the colour of the oval medallion that carries the Lady and 
her supporting Lion and Unicorn, with one or more trees at 
each end—palm, oak, or pomegranate. Both medallion and 
ground are polychromed with flowering plants that not only 
make the two surfaces vibrant with hue, but also gray them 
together into harmony. I should like to have seen these tap- 
estries before the repairer got in his deadly work. While 
they are commonly called millefleurs, I prefer to confine that 
term to the Gothic verdures of patternized floriation that 
covers all the ground without introducing long stems, and that 
is distinguished by long slits that mark the bending of leaves 
to the front. (Plate VI, ka.) 


GOTHIC MARRIAGE TAPESTRIES 


Marriage tapestries of much earlier design and weave 
are those illustrated on Plates VI, k, 1. The first, belonging 
to Mr. Kahn, bears the coats-of-arms of both husband and 
wife, and shows the wife training a falcon. She wears a 
lofty hennin. The ground of the tapestry is patterned with 
detached flowers, and with the phrase A mue inside compasses. 
The Musée des Arts Décoratifs has two fragments like the 
ground. The second of these two marriage tapestries was 
presented to the Musée by ‘Count Valencia, to whom we are 
indebted for the Valencia Museum in Madrid, as well as for 
the two large volumes illustrating the finest tapestries of the 
Royal Spanish collection. In it, the lady, who has the initials 
A wt on her belt, is watering flowers. Two angels hold open 
the curtains of the tent behind the couple. It is interesting 
to compare the scene with that of Tapestry VI of the Cluny 
Unicorn set. 7 


GOTHIC COUNTRY LIFE TAPESTRIES 101 


GOTHIC HUNTING TAPESTRIES 


Brilliant Early Gothic Hunting tapestries are the two 
illustrated on Plates III, j, k, ka. <A little later than these, 
but still in the second quarter of the fifteenth century, is the 
Duke of Devonshire’s set of four great Hunting Tapestries, 
for several years on exhibition at the Victoria and Albert 
Museum (Plate 57 of Hunter 1912). While these have been 
much repaired, and have consequently lost much of their 
strength of texture, they are of eloquent design. One of them 
is 14 by 37 feet, the others a little smaller. The m on the trap- 
pings of the horse of the lady in one of the tapestries, whose 
robe is figured with marguerites, is thought by Thomson to 
associate the tapestries with Margaret of Anjou, wife of King 
Henry VI of England. Two of the tapestries are illustrated 
in colour and described in detail in Thomson History. Part 
of a closely related tapestry is the exquisite fragment 11 feet 
2 by 10 feet 9 in the Charles Jairus Martin Memorial Collection 
of the Minneapolis Institute of Fine Arts. 

In Mr. Blumenthal’s adorable tapestry from the end of 
the fifteenth century, illustrated on Plate VI, na, the social 
side of hunting is emphasized. One of the ladies is mounted 
and holds a falcon on her fist, while her cavalier holds up for 
her inspection the bird that has just met its fate. The second 
horse has a double burden. The lady sits sidewise behind her 
swain, holding his shoulder with her right hand and gazing 
into his eyes. He has a dog on leash. Cruder in style and 
weave, and as white as the whitest Louis XVI Aubussons but 
full of life and vigor, is the Metropolitan Museum’s Late 
Gothic ‘‘Stag Hunt,’’ made about 1515. The action in this 
tapestry is intense. There are three stags, eight horses, and 
many dogs. The stags are swimming the river, hard pushed 
by the dogs, with the horses and their riders close after. 
Several of the huntsmen carry crossbows. 


102 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


MRS. BRADY’S VISIT OF THE GYPSIES 


Mrs. Brady’s Visit of the Gypsies (Plate VI, m) is the 
finest of a group of Shepherd and Hunting tapestries made at 
Tournai near the end of the fifteenth century. It bears the 
arms of the Effiat family in whose Chateau near Ciermont- 
Ferrand it formerly hung. The member of the Effiat family 
who attached the arms was Antoine Coiffier de Ruzé (1581- 
1632), Marquis d’Effiat, one of the most distinguished men in 
France during the reign of Louis XIII, who inherited the 
estate from his maternal grandfather and was planning to 
make it the most beautiful property in the kingdom when 
death cut short his triumphal career of diplomat, adminis- 
trator, and soldier. As Ambassador to England he arranged 
the marriage of Henriette with Charles I; as French minister 
of finance he brought order out of chaos; for his conduct in 
the siege of La Rochelle and in the Italian wars he was made 
Marshal of France, and appointed Governor of the Bourbon- 
nais, Auvergne, Anjou, ete. 

Of his three sons, Henri, the second, was the Marquis de 
Cinqg-Mars, whose tragic story was told so brilliantly by 
Alfred de Vigny in his romantic historical novel, the first 
scene of which is located in the dining room of the Chateau 
d’Effiat, next the drawing room where the tapestries were. 

In the middle of the nineteenth century, the tapestries 
came into the possession of M. Achille Jubinal, whose Ancien- 
nes Tapisserics Historiées (Paris 1838) was the first great 
illustrated book ever published on tapestries. It was M. 
Jubinal who contributed the illustration of the left third of 
Mrs. Brady’s Fortune Teller to Lacroix’s Manners and Cus- 
toms of: the Middle Ages, Fig. 369, with the title ‘¢@ipsies 
on the March.”’ | 

In the middle ground of this tapestry, just to the right of 
centre, one of the gypsy women is telling the fortune of one of 
the ladies of the castle. From the left, arrives the gypsy 


GOTHIC COUNTRY LIFE TAPESTRIES 103 


caravan, partly on horseback, with nine children, five of the 
babies depicted nude, as was then common. The gypsy king 
with club and sword is certainly a rough looking customer. 
The gypsy queen at his right is feeding the baby with a wooden 
spoon from the bowl held by the child beside her. The purse 
of the lady in the middle foreground is being filched by one 
of the gypsy children. This lady and her youthful husband 
are even more richly clad than the older lord and lady who 
stand at the castle entrance, welcoming the head huntsman 
who brings a quarter of deer, and the youthful noble who dis- 
plays a rabbit. after which the dog below reaches longingly. 
Proudly perched on the wall of the castle is a peacock with 
tail long and luxuriant. 

The background of the tapestry is filled with hills and 
castles and hunting scenes. In the middle, a huntsman is 
just impaling the deer seized from behind by one of the 
numerous dogs. On the left, a fox, another deer, and a hunts- 
man blowing a huge horn. 

There are others of this group of Shepherd and Hunting 
tapestries in Mrs. Brady’s collection, and in the collections of 
the late Senator Clark, Mr. J. E. Aldred, the Brussels Cin- 
quentenaire Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the 
Musée des Arts Décoratifs. 


FLIRTATION, MUSIC, AND HEROINES 


Altogether delightful and probably woven in France, cer- 
tainly designed there, is the set of six Country Life tapes- 
tries in the Cluny Museum (Plate VI, 3). All of them are 
illustrated in colour on Plates CLXXIV to CLXXIX of 
Demotte Gothic. Against a richly floriated background they 
show gentlemen and ladies out-of-doors, hunting, walking, 
reading, talking, flirting, spinning, embroidering, and even 
taking a bath (Plate VI, j). 

Even more brilliant than these are the Youth, Sunshine, 
and Music, of the Duveen collection. In Youth (Plate XX], e), 


104 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


rich costumes, jewelry, music, flowers, trees, landscape, make 
a merry party of four young men and four maidens. In 
the foreground three little folk give scale to the main 
scene. One of the little folk blows bubbles, another chases 
butterflies, while the tiny maiden sits holding an apple 
emblematic of Love. In the background on the right, a 
castle and personages. In the background on the left, a 
peasant with beast of burden. The inscription reads: 

Youth plays while ruddy health remains, 

And thinks all lies within its grasp, 

But this triumph is not endless. 

Here you see the example quite plainly. 


Even he is happy with death at his breast. 
This by youth should be noted. 


Music, which is the main subject of the third of the set of 
tapestries just spoken of, is the subject of a number of indi- 
vidual Gothic pieces, among them Pierre de Rohan singing 
to his Wife’s Playing (Plate XXI, f) at the Cathedral of 
Angers; the Concert (Plate 327 of Hunter 1912), at the 
Gobelins, which it is interesting to compare with the organ 
tapestry of the Cluny Unicorn Set; the Duet, a tapestry 
acquired by the Louvre in 1920, in which the man plays 
the clarinet while the lady plays the zither, both of them 
gorgeously clad in red; the Musicque of the Boston Museum 
of Fine Arts, which introduces a whole orchestra, while a 
Latin Gothic inscription explains: 


Invenere locum per me modulamina vocum 
Dat notula scire, musica docta lire. 


The modulations of the voice found their place through me. 
The music learned from the lyre enables one to read by note. 


Some Gothic historical, religious, and allegorical tapes- 
tries are so dominated by verdure as to call for association 
with the out-of-door group. For example, the two Heroines 
(Preuses): Penthesilea at Angers, and the Semiramis of 


GOTHIC COUNTRY LIFE TAPESTRIES 105 


Duveen Bros. (Plate VI, ja). The Angers piece shows on the 
left, part of the same coat-of-arms that Penthesilea displays 
in the famous Trojan War group (three Queens’ heads) and 
has a French Gothic inscription telling her story. The inscrip- 
tion over Semiramis (Plate VI, ja) who with mirror on one 
side, and military messenger on the other, seems to hesitate 
between devotion to beauty and devotion to duty, reads: 

Je fus semiramis royne de babilone. 

barbariens conquis, indoys, et syriens. 


jusques en septentrion ale, et mis mon trosne. 
et si occi le roy des ethiopiens. 


I was Semiramis, queen of Babylon. 
Barbarians I conquered, Indians and Syrians. 
Far up in the north I went and set my throne, 
And also killed the king of the Ethiopians. 


The inscription over the head of Penthesilea reads: 


Au grant siege de troie diomedes requis 
a terre Vabatiz tant qwil cy est memoire 
avec mon armee tant @honneur ay acquit 
que entre les princes suis en bruit triumphatoire 


At the great siege of Troy I hunted Diomedes, 
threw him to earth so that it is here remembered. 
With my army I won so much honor 

that among princes I am triumphantly famous. 


Semiramis and Penthesilea were the best known of the 
Nine Heroines (Preuses) developed by feminists of the Middle 
Ages to match the Nine Heroes (Les neuf Preus). (See Chap- 
ters III and XVIII.) 


PEACE AND LOVE ALLEGORY 


A delightful allegorical tapestry, with the out-of-door 
feature emphasized, is the Marriage of Peace and Love pre- 
sented by Mr. W. G. Mather to the Cleveland Museum. There 
are mountains and castles in the distance, and in the fore- 
ground a wide expanse of dogs, rabbits, and birds, playing 


106 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


among bright-coloured flowers. The composition and the 13 
personages show Florentine influence. Upon the chariot of 
mariage sit paix and amour, drawn by two sheep, and escorted 
by Oeneus and hymeneus. Ahead and behind, marshalled 
by fame immortelle, come the eight Sisters of Happiness: 
Amenitte, dilleccion, doulceur, concorde, fidellite, Loyaute, 
Liesse, and—elheite. The inscription reads: 


Paix et amour en loyal mariage font triompher par immortelle fame, 
Les soeurs VIII, dechassant blasine infame, de chastete et pudique 
courage. 


Peace and love in loyal marriage make triumph through immortal fame, 
The eight sisters, driving away infamous slander, with chastity and 
modest courage. 


VINTAGE AND WOOD CUTTERS 


Gothic tapestries that give wonderful portrayal of men in 
action are the incomparable Vintage, details of which I illus- 
trate on Plates f, h, i, from the middle of the fifteenth cen- 
tury; and the two large Wood Cutters in the Musée des Arts 
Décoratifs, one of the two with the coat-of-arms of Rolin, 
Chancellor of Philip the Good, (Plate XXI, h) and thirty 
years earlier than the other, which is illustrated on Plate 346 
of Hunter 1912. The finer a tapestry is, the better it stands 
the illustration of details. Fach of the Vintage details is a 
striking picture in itself. The difference between the middle 
of the century and forty years later can be seen by comparing 
the original on Plate VI, g, with the copy on Plate VI, h. 


THE ROSE GARDEN TAPESTRIES 


At the head of garden tapestries (Plate VI, a, in colour) 
stand the three large pieces from the middle of the fifteenth 
century that were so much admired at the Exposition des 
Primitifs, 1904, to which they were lent by Monsieur L. 
Bardae, and that are now the property of the Metropolitan 
Museum. These three tapestries are a liberal education in 


GOTHIC COUNTRY LIFE TAPESTRIES 107 


Gothic composition, texture, colour, and costume; as will tes- 
tify the many ladies who have studied them with me. The wide 
vertical floriated bands of red, white, green, suggest those 
on the walls of the court room in Jean Foucquet’s miniature 
of the trial in 1458 of Jean, Duke of Alengon, at which the 
French king, Charles VII presided. Miss Rubinstein has 
pointed out that the colours of Charles VII were red, white, 
and green. Possibly the tapestries were made for him either 
in Tournai, or in France by Tournai weavers. 

As far as tapestries are concerned, Gothic conventions 
are much preferable to those of the Renaissance. The intro- 
duction of photographic perspective and heavy shadow may 
have helped painting, but it hurt tapestry. Plate VI, a, shows 
a composition that is ideal for the tapestry loom. ‘The ladies 
and gentlemen, in costumes of the middle of the fifteenth cen- 
tury, all laced and belted to make them look slender, with 
pointed shoes, and with quaintly luxurious hats, are having a 
party in a garden of roses. The bushes and stocks and birds 
and flowers are drawn vividly and vigorously. The dominant 
convention is the one that does most for tapestries. Person- 
ages and bushes have been bent back into the plane of the 
eround and then the whole ground tipped forward to perpen- 
dicular. The result is the happy elimination of one dimen- 
sion. The personages, and bushes of the background are 
just as large and just as important and just as clearly 
detailed as the personages and bushes of the foreground. 
Moreover, the personages and bushes of the background con- 
tinue the vertical lines of the personages and bushes of the 
foreground, and give an upward Gothic movement that is 
accentuated by the vertical Gothic folds of the robes. The 
result is a composition that while silhouetted, and in paint 
comparatively flat, has by the powerful line-contrasts of tap- 
estry texture been forced into bold relief. Admittedly this is 
an artificial convention, but so are all methods of attempting 
to depict the round against the flat. It is an artificial conven- 


108 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


tion that, like the conventions of all the arts, gains by what it 
eliminates in conforming to material and process. It is this 
convention that makes unnecessary a central point of view, 
or even a central point of interest, and that prevents large 
Gothic tapestries from seeming ‘‘spotty,’’ and hollow in effect, 
like most large paintings. It is this convention that makes 
so many tapestries of the century before 1480 superior in life 
and vigor, though not in idealism, even to the superfine gold 
tapestries of the end of the fifteenth century. 


WITH AND WITHOUT PERSONAGES 


The HERcvLES tapestry of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs 
shows Hercules in armor and with huge spiked club, in 
a Gothic field of trees, flowers, birds and rabbits, standing 
between the Lion that represents Heroism and the Cupid that 
represents Love. , 

Other Gothic verdure tapestries with personages, are: two 
in the Martin Le Roy collection (Plates III and IV of the cata- 
logue, Paris, 1908) ; Mr. Philip Lehman’s Falcon tapestry ; the 
two formerly in the collection of Mrs. Chauncey Blair; and the 
large piece in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, with peacock in 
the centre and with tiny cherubs playing here and there among 
the flowers. 

Gothic verdures with animals, but without personages, are 
the large piece with border, in the collection of Mr. C. Led- 
yard Blair, the two in Mrs. Harriman’s collection, the two in 
the Duveen collection, the one formerly in the collection of the 
late Alexander W. Drake, the one from the Robb collection 
in the Metropolitan Museum, and the one with unicorn illus- 
trated on Plate VI, ka. 


GOTHIC VERDURE ARMORIALS 


The finest verdure armorial tapestries in the world are 
the two in the Berne Museum with the blazon of the Duke of 
Burgundy. The flowering plants, though detached, are closer 


GOTHIC COUNTRY LIFE TAPESTRIES 109 


together and more nearly continuous than is common until 
twenty years later. The ground is dark blue, against which 
stand out boldly the creams and golden yellows, light blues 
and greens, and bricky reds of the ornament. These tapes- 
tries were captured from the camp equipment of Charles the 
Bold, when the Swiss defeated him at Granson in 1476, and 
testify to the magnificent draping of the tent of that choleric 
and rash monarch. The larger of the two tapestries shows 
the Burgundian arms three times, displayed on rectangular 
field. The smaller of the two tapestries (Plate XVIII, c) 
shows the Burgundian arms in the lower middle; in the upper 
middle and the lower corners, Charles’ monogram (Plate 
XVIII, d) two c’s facing each other and tied together with 
tasseled cord like the a and & of Mr. Rockefeller’s Unicorn 
set; in the upper corners, the Beye flint and steel 
striking fire. 

Later in date, with patternized pilledeas eround, is the 
armorial at Haddon Hall, with the Royal Arms of England, 
(the three French Aeneas quartered with the three English 
lions inside the belt of the Order of the Garter with its Hony 
soit qui mal y pense), in the centre and four corners. ‘The 
central blazon is surmounted by a helmet, with cap of 
Maintenance above, and with human-headed crowned lion 
above that. 

Distinguished by a narrow Renaissance border of Italian 
design, is the long rectangular tapestry in the Victoria and 
Albert Museum, bearing thrice the arms of the Rezzonico 
family set in a landscape over which floats a ribbon carrying 
the motto, FATO. PRUDENTIA. MINoR (Wisdom is less than Fate). 

Several important Gothic verdure armorials, some square, 
and some espalier or frieze shape, have come to America in 
the last decade. Perhaps most attractive and in the best 
condition was the one belonging to French & Co., 94% by 20 
feet, with narrow flower and fruit border, and blazoned twice 
with the Medici arms inside a large flower and fruit wreath. 


110 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


TOURNAI INDIES 


In the accounts of Philip the Handsome, Duke of Burgundy 
and King of Castile, we read: 


To Jehan Grenier, tapissier, resident of Tournai, the sum of 784 livres, 
16 sols, for 346 ells of rich tapestry, very richly made, in the style of Portugal 
and India, which Monseigneur on June 14, 1504, had taken and bought 
from him to send into France, to Monseigneur de Ville, who was then ambas- 
sador there, as a present to a lord of France whom it is not necessary to 
name here. 


Part of this set of six or of a duplicate set are three tapes- 
tries in the Chateau de Brezé, in Anjou—the Lion Hunt, the 
Giraffe Parade, Shipping the Animals (Part III, Volume VI, 
of Les Arts Anciens de la Flandre). They are interesting to 
us because they identify and associate together three tapes- 
tries nowin America: (1) The Lion Hunt (which was No.1 of 
M. Seymour de Ricci’s catalogue of the J. Pierpont Morgan 
Collection of Tapestries, Paris, 1913) while not a duplicate of 
the Brezé Lion Hunt, is clonal part of a companion piece of 
the same set; (2) The Triumph of the Innocents, No. 114 of 
the Lydig sale catalogue, New York, 1913, while not dupli- 
cating any part of the Brezé Giraffe Parade, is clearly part 
of a companion piece of the same set; (3) Mrs. Harold I. 
Pratt’s ‘‘Ship Tapestry’’ duplicates one-third of the Breze 
‘‘Shipping the Animals.’’ The animal that swings in midair 
about to join the three camels already in the ship, is a unicorn. 
All of these except the Lydig piece still retain the top border, 
which is of the bell-and-pomegranate type that appears also 
on Mr. Guggenheim’s Hercules set (See Chapter V). The 
three Brezé pieces and the Morgan piece also retain the nar- 
row floral, side and bottom borders. 





THE FOUNTAIN, ONE OF MR. ROCKEFELLER’S GOTHIC UNICORN TAPESTRIES 


PLATE VI, b. 





b 


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DETAIL OF PLATE VI 





ATE VI, b 


d.—ANOTHER DETAIL OF PL 


bf 


PLATE VI 


PLATE VI, @.—THE UNICORN IN CAPTIVITY, ONE OF THE TWO LATER PIECES OF MR. 
ROCKEFELLER’S GOTHIC UNICORN SET 





een een 


VI, f.—DETAIL OF GOTHIC VINTAGE TAPESTRY OF THE MIDDLE OF THE 
FIFTEENTH CENTUR JACQUES SELIGMANN AND SON 








ANOTHER DETAIL OF THE SAME TAPESTRY 


PLATE VI, g. 





PLATE, Vi; h.—FORTY YEARS LATER. A LATE GOTHIC VERSION IN THE MUSEE DES ARTS 
DECORATIFS, OF THE DETAIL ILLUSTRATED OPPOSITE 


ON 


PLATES VI, f AND VI, g 


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PLATE VI, 1. 


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‘SOUd NATANG “HAOMV NOILdIYOSNI HLIM ONV ‘SHOVNOSUMd ACUHL HLIM AULSAdMVL 
YOaTI—-ATTA AUVNIGUOVULXA NV “MIVH UAH DNIGWOO YOWUV NI SINVUINES “LHDIN HHL NO “WOGSOW ANOIO AHL NI SaIUL 
SddvVL AdIT AYLNOOD TOHILAVAG ATLNVITIWYd XIS THL dO ANO ‘NadO MHL NI HLVE ‘LIaT AHL No—el ‘f ‘IA sauyia 


Suniogn S39 Zan sue d 


5 


3 Si 








PLATES vi, k, ka.—ABOVE, MR. KAHN’S MARRIAGE TAPESTRY, “TRAINING THE 
FALCON,” ONE OF THE MOST ATTRACTIVE SMALL TAPESTRIES IN EXISTENCE (6’ 2” 
x12’ 5’). MADE IN THE SECOND QUARTER OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. BELOW, 
MISS MILLETT’S LATE GOTHIC MILLE-FLEUR TAPESTRY, WITH UNICORN AND BIRDS 


Mn 





PLATE VI, ].—MARRIAGE TAPESTRY IN THE MUSBHE DES ARTS DECORATIFS, PARIS. 
GIFT OF THE LATE COUNT 


MADE IN THE SECOND QUARTER OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 
VALENCIA, TO WHOM WE OWE THE VALENCIA MUSEUM IN MADRID AS WELL AS THE TWO 


LARGE VOLUMES THAT DESCRIBE AND ILLUSTRATE THE SPANISH ROYAL TAPESTRY COLLECTION 





ONE OF MRS. NICHOLAS F. BRADY’S LATE GOTHIC COUNTRY LIFE TAPESTRIES FORMERLY 
’HFFIAT NEAR CLERMONT-FERRAND 


IN THE CHATEAU D 


PLATE VI, M.—VISIT OF THE GYPSIES, 





PLATES VI, Nn, Na.—ABOVE, ONE OF A SERIES OF LATE GOTHIC ALLE— 
GORICAL TAPESTRIES PICTURING MAN AS A FRAGILE DEER. WILDENSTEIN & CO. 
BELOW, MR. BLUMENTHAL’S ADORABLE EQUESTRIAN HUNTING TAPESTRY, WITH 
TWO LADIES AND THEIR ATTENDANT PAGES, TWO HORSES, A DOG, A FALCON 
ON FIST, AND OTHER BIRDS 





PLATE VII, &2.—ANNUNCIATION, ONE OF THE ROYAL SPANISH SET OF SIX VIRGIN TAPESTRIES RICH 
WITH GOLD, THE FINEST SET IN THE WORLD 


CHAPTER VII 
GOTHIC TAPESTRIES RICH WITH GOLD 


MAZARIN TRIUMPH OF CHRIST, SPANISH VIRGIN TAPESTRIES, CHRIST 
AND THE WOMAN, VERONICA, SAINT CLAUDIUS, DAVID AND BATHSHEBA 
SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST, MASS OF SAINT GREGORY, SAINT LUKE 
PAINTING THE VIRGIN, DAVILLIER TRIUMPH OF THE VIRGIN, 
APPARTAMENTO BORGIA, CATHEDRAL OF SENS 


THE finest tapestry in the world is the Mazarin, formerly 
in the Morgan collection, exhibited for several years at the 
Victoria and Albert Museum, and afterwards at the Metro- 
politan Museum. It is now in the collection of Mr. Joseph E. 
Widener. It is rich with gold that has been marvelously 
employed to heighten the effect of a cloth that without gold 
would still rank near the top. 

The finest set of tapestries in the world is the Virgin series, 
also rich with gold, and as fresh as the day it left the loom, of 
the Royal Spanish collection. I shall never cease to be grate- 
ful to the King of Spain for allowing me to study it alone at 
leisure, and for permitting me to have splendidly large photo- 
graphs made that I expect to publish later, in large format. 

I wish I knew who was the Author of the Mazarin tapestry. 
He comes first in my consideration. Upon his scenario prin- 
cipally depends the greatness of the five pictures that make 
the composition, one in the middle, two on each side. (The 
same arrangement as in the Spanish Virgin tapestry on 
Plate VII, a.) Filled and thrilled with the Story of Salva- 
tion as told in the magnificent Credo and Salvation tapestries 
(Chapter IV), he locked it all into one single tapestry, in 
perfect form. It is the most dramatic story ever told. God 

111 


112 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


let his only Son sacrifice himself for the Salvation of Man. 
Then the New Law took the place of the Old Law, the New 
Dispensation of the Old Dispensation, the Christian Church 
of the Jewish Church, the Roman Empire of the Persian 
Empire. This was the Triumph of Christ. 

Christ sits high in the middle of the tapestry, crowned 
and richly robed, on a rich Gothie throne (Plate 8, n, of 
the Subscribers’ Edition, and Plate 369 of Hunter 1912), his 
right hand making the sign of benediction, his left hand 
holding open towards us an illuminated copy of the Gospels. 
Two angels hold the rich drapery behind him. Two angels 
stand beside him, one with the Sword of Justice, the other 
with the Lily of Mercy. A delightful landscape separates 
the throne in Heaven from the Earth below, where the 
Emperor and his Court and the Pope and his Court, bow in 
Adoration. The Emperor’s sword is on the ground beside 
him, in token of humility. Standing on the column at the 
right (the spectator’s right I mean), is a woman blindfolded, 
symbolic of the Synagogue, with the Mosaic tables of the Law, 
and with broken lance. Standing on the column at the left, 
is a Bishop with Chalice and Crozier, symbolic of the Chris- 
tian Church. Thus Sargent portrayed Synagogue and Church 
in the Boston Public Library. 

On the right of the tapestry, next the Synagogue, are two 
scenes picturing the Persian Empire of the Old Dispensation. 
The lower scene shows Ahasuerus putting the marriage ring 
on the hand of Esther. The upper scene shows Esther making 
preparation for the banquet she gave to the King and to 
Haman. A subordinate group, in the upper left corner of the 
lower scene, shows Esther kneeling before Ahasuerus, when 
she came before him unsummoned, at the risk of death, in 
the effort to save the people of her race, the Jews, whom 
Ahasuerus at the instigation of Haman had condemned to 


GOTHIC TAPESTRIES RICH WITH GOLD 113 


death. A Latin Gothic inscription on the arch over the lower 
scene, reads: 

cum osculatum fuerat 

sceptrum assuert 

hester scipho utitur 

regis pleno meri 
which is to say: 

When Esther had kissed the sceptre of Ahasuerus, she uses the King’s 
cup full of wine. 

If the marriage of Ahasuerus and Esther has reference 
to any contemporary marriage, it is that of Philip the Hand- 
some, ruler of the Netherlands, to Joanna of Spain, daughter 
of Ferdinand and Isabella. 

On the left of the tapestry, next to the Christian Church, 
are two scenes picturing the Roman Empire of the New Dis- 
pensation. Below, the Sibyl of Tibur kneels before the 
Emperor Augustus (whose name octavianus is woven at the 
bottom of the scene), summoned by him to declare whether 
he should yield to the desire of the Roman Senators to wor- 
ship him as God. Tradition is that the Sibyl replied: 

Token of doom. The Earth shall drip with sweat. 


From Heaven shall come the King forevermore, 
And present in the flesh, shall judge the World. 


Forthwith, as shown in the subordinate group in the upper 
right corner of the scene, where the Emperor kneels beside 
the Sibyl: The Heavens were opened, and a great brightness 
lighted upon him. He saw in the Heavens a Virgin, passing 
fair, standing upon an altar, and holding a man-child in her 
arms, whereat he marveled exceedingly. And he heard a voice 
from the Heavens saying, ‘‘This is the Altar of the Son of 
God.’? The Emperor straightway fell to the ground, and wor- 
shipped the Christ that should come. The Vision took place 
where now is the Church of Santa Maria on the Capitol. 
Therefore it is now called Santa Maria in Aracoeli (Altar of 
Heaven). Because of the Vision, Augustus did not suffer 


114 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


himself to be worshipped, but said, ‘‘ Mortal I am, and will not 
call me Lord.’’? Afterwards he built a high altar on the spot 
where he had seen the Vision, and wrote thereon in Latin say- 
ing: ‘‘This is the Altar of the Son of God.’’ The upper scene 
on the left of the tapestry shows the breaking of ground for 
the construction of the altar. 
The story of the lower scene is told in Latin Gothic inscrip- 

tion on the arch: 

regem regum adoravit 

augustus imparator 


cum stbilla demonstrarat 
quo patuit salvator 


In English: 

The Emperor Augustus adored the King of Kings, when the Sibyl 
pointed out where the Saviour was visible. 

The church of Santa Maria in Aracoeli is still rich with 
traditions of ancient Rome. While the present building dates 
from the fourteenth century and later, the 22 columns of the 
nave are ancient. The third on the left bears the inscription, 
A CVBICVLO Avavstorvm. The left transept contains an octag- 
onal canopy supported on columns of alabaster, known as the 
CAPELLA DI §. ELENA (Chapel of Saint Helena, mother of Con- 
stantine). Inside this altar is an ancient altar inscribed ara 
PRIMOGENITI DEI, said to have been erected by Augustus. 
It was in this church, that Gibbon, October 15, 1764, first con- 
ceived the idea of writing his history of the Decline and Fall 
of the Roman Empire. Yearly, in one of the chapels on the 
left of the nave of Santa Maria in Aracoeli, the ancient legend 
is acted out for the faithful and the curious. The Virgin 
Mary with the Firstborn of God in her lap, sits in a grotto in 
the foreground. Saint Joseph stands beside her. Behind 
them are the ass and the ox. Above, God the Father, sur- 
rounded by clouds of cherubs and angels. In the background, 
a pastoral landscape on which the painter has lavished his 
skill. In the middle-ground, Augustus and the Sibyl, whose 


GOTHIC TAPESTRIES RICH WITH GOLD 115 


presence has here the same supreme significance as in the 
Mazarin tapestry. 

The Mazarin tapestry was made in Brussels about. the 
middle of the reign of Philip and Joanna (1486-1506). There 
are inferior copies of it, without gold, and with modifications 
of the design, in the Brussels Cinquentenaire Museum and in 
the collection of the Cathedrals of Saragossa. Whoever 
planned the copies, thought to increase the grandeur of the idea 
by extending the story back to the Creation, and by continuing 
it into the Christian Middle Ages. In narrow panels on each 
side of the throne group (which has been increased in num- 
bers, with Christ holding the Globe and Cross of Empire 
instead of the Gospels), appear Adam and Eve, nude, she 
holding the fatal apple. In narrow panels in the upper 
corners of the tapestry appear the three Christian Heroes 
(Preuz) ; on the left, Charlemagne in armour, and with shield, 
and sword, standing over a prostrate Saracen; on the right, 
King Arthur and Godfrey de Bouillon, each with his proper 
coat-of-arms. Both of the Latin Gothic inscriptions have been 
omitted, and the small scene, Esther kneeling before Ahas- 
uerus has been expanded to fill the whole panel, crowding 
out the marriage scene. Wherever these two tapestries differ 
from the Mazarin, itis for the worse. The marvelous scenario 
of the orginal has been perverted; draftsmanship and weave 
have been weakened. Even the columns and arches that 
frame the whole into separate scenes have lost their dignity. 
The Engel-Gros collection contained a copy of the middle 
third of the Brussels and Saragossa Triumphs of Christ. 

Rich with gold, and brilliant as a whole and in detail, is 
the Esther and Augustus tapestry (Plate VII, c), the right 
wing of which reproduces the left wing of the Brussels and 
Saragossa pieces, which is nearly the same as that of the 
Mazarin, except that in the Mazarin, Augustus holds a sceptre, 
while in the others he holds a sword. In the Esther and Augus- 
tus tapestry, letters of gold identify ocravIANUS, SEBILLA, and 


116 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


KAROLUS. The middle and left wings of the tapestry are 
devoted to the Story of Esther. So we have represented in the 
tapestry the Persian Empire of the Old Dispensation, the 
Roman Empire of the New Dispensation, and the Christian 
Hero (Preuw) Charlemagne. The main scene, in the middle 
of the tapestry, shows Esther beseeching Ahasuerus to rescind 
the law destroying her people. The first scene, in the upper 
left corner, shows Mordecai, uncle of Hsther, already estab- 
lished in Court favour, kneeling before Ahasuerus (the 
Persian King known to the Greeks and us as Xerxes). The 
second scene, in the lower left corner, pictures a great service 
rendered by Mordecai to King Ahasuerus. Learning that two 
of the royal chamberlains, of those who kept the door, sought 
to lay hands of violence on the King, Mordecai told Esther, who 
then told the King. In this scene, the two criminals are 
brought under arrest into the presence of Queen Esther and 
King Ahasuerus. Note the two sheriffs, one with slashed hat, 
and one with spiked helmet, both of whom appear also in the 
main scene. The third scene, at the right of the first scene, 
shows Esther by command of Ahasuerus dictating the decree 
that saved the Jews. In the Middle Ages this triumph of 
Esther’s was held to foreshadow the later Triumph of the 
Virgin and of Christianity. 

Mr. Blumenthal’s Charlemagne reproduces on the left, not 
the left but the right wing of the Brussels and Saragossa 
pieces— Esther kneeling before Ahasuerus; Esther making 
Preparations for the Banquet; the two Christian Heroes, 
King Arthur and Godfrey de Bouillon, with their coats- 
of-arms. The rest of the tapestry is taken up with the Story 
of Charlemagne, the iconoclast (Plate 371 of Hunter 1912). 


SPANISH VIRGIN TAPESTRIES 


Close to the Mazarin tapestry in design and weave, with 
less powerful story but in far better condition, is the set of 
six tapestries rich with gold, picturing the Story of the Virgin, 


GOTHIC TAPESTRIES RICH WITH GOLD 117 


in the Royal Spanish collection, with the same triptych divi- 
sion by Gothic columns and arches into five scenes. All the 
tapestries but one have a floral border (Plate VII, a) instead 
of the jeweled moulding of the Mazarin tapestry. (Plate 
VII, b). I class these six tapestries as a set, although one 
has a different border (Plate VII, b), and the last two have a 
floral foreground, and greater height than the first four—l1!4 
feet as compared with 101% feet. 

The set was made for Philip and Joanna, brought to Spain 
by Philip and Joanna, and for half a century hung close to 
Joanna. Her son Charles V and her grandson Philip II were 
equally fond of it. It has been suggested that some of the 
scenes introduce Philip and Joanna, Juan and Margaret, and 
other members of the family, picturing scenes connected with 
Habsburg betrothals and marriages. This is not at all 
improbable, even when the likenesses are not apparent, and 
even when the scenes are primarily sacred. With this in 
mind I hope soon to study the tapestries closely again. The 
subjects are: 

I. Annunciation (Plate VII, a). 
II. Nativity A (Plate VII, b). 
Tif. Triumph of the Virgin. 
IV. The Virgin as Intercessor (Plate VII, ba). 


V. Presentation of Jesus. 
VI. Nativity B. 


There is a duplicate of No. VI in the collection of the Sara- 
gossa Cathedrals (Plate VII, ha); and of No. V in the Martin 
Le Roy collection, formerly in the Saragossa collection. Other 
similar tapestries at Saragossa, with different borders, are: 
(1) Marriage of David and Bathsheba, with Nathan standing 
reproachful in the foreground; (2) Solomon and the Queen of 
Sheba; (3) Resurrection of Lazarus, with Gothic inscriptions 
over each of the seven scenes, there being two scenes in each 
of the upper corners. 

These tapestries represent the art of weaving perfected to 


118 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


its highest point. While the faces have not the strength of 
earlier Gothic tapestry faces, and have in imitation of the early 
Florentine painters been made angelic at the expense of indi- 
viduality, the simplicity and richness of composition are what 
we should expect from full-size cartoons that might have been 
painted by Gerard David (Consult Bodenhausen David) for 
Philip and Joanna, and that were woven in tapestries by the 
most skilful masters of the period. Without attempting to 
establish David definitely as the designer, I wish to suggest 
the possibility. 
CHRIST AND THE WOMAN 


Another tapestry suggesting Gerard Davidis Mr. Widener’s 
Christ and the Woman, with more silver and less gold, all in 
perfect condition, and consequently with a mysterious and 
unique quality that suggests the lustre of ancient Spanish 
pottery. The dramatic force of the picture is extraordinary 
(Plate VII, g). On the right and on the left separated by 
Gothic columns from the main scene, are the Four Evangelists 
with their Symbols: Matthew, with winged cherub; Mark, 
with lion; Luke, with ox; John, with eagle; all busy with their 
books. The main scene is located in the Temple at Jerusalem, 
pictured as a Gothic church, with distance given by a strip 
of landscape seen through the open door. A Latin inserip- 
tion gives the subject: 

“He that is without sin, let him first cast stones at her.” 


In the foreground, kneels the Woman, with the inscription 
just below her, on the inside edge of the border. Facing her, 
on the right, under‘a noble canopy, stands Jesus, in the act of 
uttering the phrase that dumbfounds the accusers. Behind 
the Woman, on the left, two of the accusers hold in their hands 
the stones that they have lost the desire to cast at her. In 
the middle-ground are other accusers and spectators. 

The story is based on the eighth chapter of the Gospel 
according to Saint John: 


GOTHIC TAPESTRIES RICH WITH GOLD 119 


Karly in the morning, Jesus came again into the temple, and all the 
people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them. And the Scribes 
and Pharisees brought in to him a woman taken in adultery; and when they 
had set her in the midst, they said unto him, Master, this Woman was taken 
in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the Law commanded us that such 
should be stoned; but what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him, that 
they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger 
wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. So when they continued 
asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin 
among you, let him first cast a stone at her. 


The Scribes and Pharisees were anxious to apprehend 
Jesus in some violation of the Law. If He said that the 
Woman should be stoned, his judgment would be contrary to 
the Roman Law, which was the supreme Law of the country. 
If He said that she should not be stoned, his judgment would 
be contrary to the Jewish Law, that was the Law of his people. 
Whatever his answer, they counted on being able to show that 
Hewas wrong. With genius has the critical moment of the 
story been portrayed. Astonishment and dismay reveal them- 
selves equally in the faces of the accusers. Evidently they 
have been caught in the trap set for another. By the words 
of Jesus the accusers have become the accused. Their faces 
and eyes are masterpieces of artistic accomplishment. Here 
again woven cloth has surpassed painted canvas in portraiture 
(Cf. Plates III, a; V, a). Christ and the Woman excels not 
only in the qualities that make a great tapestry, but also in the 
qualities that make a great painting. The weaver has under- 
stood with his wool and his silk how to get paint effects with- 
out losing tapestry effects, and how to employ silver and gold 
lavishly, skilfully, wisely. 


VERONICA AND SAINT CLAUDIUS 


Tapestries brilliant with gold in the Knole-Morgan col- 
lection were the Veronica, and the Miracles of Saint Claudius, 
the former now in the collection of Mr. Philip Lehman (Plates 
VII, e, f), the latter in the collection of Mrs. F. T. Bradbury 


120 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 
% 


(Plate VII, a). The Veronica is a scene from the Vengeance 
of Jesus Christ (Chapter IV). Vespasian, sick with leprosy 
is cured by looking at the picture of Christ imprinted on the 
handkerchief with which his face was wiped on the Road to 
Calvary. Here we have another strong and effective composi- 
tion, with many personages richly gowned. The gold has been 
used wisely. Its effect can be detected even in my half-tone 
(Plate VII, e). Prominent in this tapestry is the pomegranate 
pattern (For example, on the robe of Titus, son of Vespasian, 
who stands behind his father, with his left arm thrown affec- 
tionately around him), which was the favorite drapery pat- 
tern of Gothic tapestries during the last half of the fifteenth 
century and at the beginning of the sixteenth. 

Brilliant also is the Miracles of Saint Claudius (Plate 
VII, h), with the beautiful dog in the foreground, and the two 
rescued children with protecting angel, both on the right. I 
went to the Bollandist Acta Sanctorum for the story, that was 
identified by Monsieur Roger-Miles (Consult the description of 
Plate V in Ricci Morgan). This tapestry is a little later in 
date than those we have been discussing. The scenes are 
laid in the Free County of Burgundy (Franche Comté), which 
was the personal domain of Margaret of Austria. Here in the 
seventh century lived Claudius, who was Archbishop of 
Besancon for seven years and Abbot of the Monastery of 
Saint Oyand for fifty-five. Today, as in the time of Caesar, 
the principal city is Besangon (Latin Vesontio), 330 miles 
south-east of Paris. 

The monastery of Saint Oyand was in the extreme south 
of Franche Comté. The name of the village was changed to 
Saint Claude in the twelfth century, upon the discovery of the 
body of Saint Claudius, which had been hidden at the time of 
the Saracen invasions. Among famous personages who made 
pilgrimages to Saint Claude, were Philip the Good in 1422, 
1442, 1443; Charles the Bold in 1461; Louis XT in 1456, 1482; 
Anne of Brittany, wife of Louis XIT in 1500, to give thanks 


GOTHIC TAPESTRIES RICH WITH GOLD 121 


for the birth of her daughter Claudia. The Miracles of Saint 
Claudius pictured in the tapestry are two: the Restoration 
of Two Drowned Boys, in the foreground; the Resuscitation of 
a Drowned Boy, in the background; Saint Claudius being the 
especial patron of drowned persons. In both scenes, the cen- 
tral figure is God, by whom the miracles were accomplished, 
through the intercession of Saint Claudius who stands near 
him. On the left of the first miracle the boys are seen falling 
into the stream; on the right, saved from it. In the fore- 
ground the father and mother kneel before God, who wears 
erown and sceptre. In the scene of the second miracle, we 
see the rescued boy in the arms of the traveler who had pulled 
his body out of the water, and on the extreme right the mother 
with the nun who advised her to appeal to Saint Claudius 
to resuscitate her dead child. Other interesting tapestries 
with gold follow: 


OTHER TAPESTRIES RICH WITH GOLD 


I. Deposition in the Brussels Cinquentenaire Museum, with 
foreground figures borrowed from a Pieté by Perugino, and 
with one of the personages showing the name PHILIEP on the 
edge of his cape. 

II. Road to Calvary, with Crucifixion in the background; 
and Deposition, both 10 feet in height, in the Royal Span- 
ish collection (Plates, 18 and 19, of Valencia). The Spanish 
collection also contains another version of the same Deposi- 
tion, with Gothic columns, which I date at 1510, the first two 
at 1515. 

TII. Birth and Passion of Christ, in seven pieces, 8 feet in 
height, at the Cathedral of Trent. The Road to Calvary 
duplicates the design of the Road to Calvary in No. II. One 
of the tapestries of this set bears letters that have been 
read PEETER DE ARSETTL. JT cannot see it as the signature of 
Peter van Aelst. 


122 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


IV. Nativity, in the Budapest Kunstgewerbe Museum, 
which duplicates the design of the Trent Nativity. 

V. Passion of Christ, in four small pieces, described and 
illustrated by Joseph Destrée in La Revue d’Art, in 1922. It 
bears the arms of Pietro Soderini who was Gonfaliero of 
Florence from 1502 to 1512, when the Medici returned with a 
Spanish army and sent him into exile. Though this set has no 
gold, I have introduced it here because of the character of 
the designs. 

VI. Splendid and ranking high among tapestries rich with 
gold are the David set in three pieces and the John the Baptist 
set in four pieces, 1114 feet high, in the Royal Spanish collec- 
tion. Both sets have short Latin Gothic inscriptions in the 
top border. Brilliant also is the David-Turnus tapestry that 
in true medieval fashion associates the stories of David 
and Adneas. 

VII. Made about 1515, with Latin Gothic inscription in the 
top border and names in Roman lettering, are the Virtues 
and Vices (Faith, Fame, Infamy, Fortune, etc.) in nine pieces 
(Plates 32 to 40 of Valencia) ; and the Honors in three pieces 
(Plates 20 to 22 of Valencia); all with Latin Gothic inscrip- 
tions in the top border and with names in Roman lettering, 
and all in the Royal Spanish collection. 

VIII. The earliest tapestry in the Royal Spanish collec- 
tion is the Nativity, with gold, made about 1470. The faces are 
strongly individualized in the early Gothic manner. God with 
angels, and with Latin Gothic inscriptions, appears in Heaven 
above. The architecture that forms the framework is vigor- 
ously designed and boldly employed. On each side of the 
Nativity scene are the prophets Isaiah and Micah, with their 
Latin Gothic placards. 

TX. Much later, about 1500, is the Mass of Saint Gregory, 
rich with gold and suggestive, with its two prophets and scrolls 
bearing Latin Gothic inscriptions, of the great Salvation 
group (Chapter IV). Before the altar kneels Saint Gregory, 


GOTHIC TAPESTRIES RICH WITH GOLD 123 


with numerous letters on the hem of his garment, among them 
BRVXEL. Behind the altar is the Resurrection of Christ, with 
the Veronica. In the upper corners are the Kiss of Judas, 
and the Road to Calvary. This tapestry was presented by 
Joanna to her mother Isabella. 

X. Saint Luke painting the Virgin, in the Louvre, (Plate 
207 of Hunter 1912) after the picture by Roger van der 
Weyden at the Munich Museum, of which there is a duplicate 
in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. The landscape back- 
ground is effective. Saint Luke’s identity is made certain by 
the s. Lucas on the scroll behind him, 

XI. Davillier Triumph of the Virgin, in the Louvre (6 feet 
by 9 feet 4). Dated 1485. Architecturally framed into a 
triptych, with niches for four prophets above. The cen- 
tral idea is of the Virgin as the Fountain of Life. In Heaven 
above, beneath a Gothic dome, is God with crown and sceptre. 
Two angels place on the head of the Virgin a crown bearing the 
Holy Spirit in the form of a dove. The Child in the Virgin’s 
lap holds a pomegranate. In the foreground, a fountain. On 
the left of the tapestry, Moses and the Fall of Manna; on the 
right, the Piscina Probatica, with the angel stirring the pool, 
and Christ in the background. The four prophets have Latin 
Gothic scrolls. The two long lines of Latin on the frame at the 
bottom are in Roman lettering. The upper of the two lines 
reads (Song of Solomon IV, 15): A FOUNTAIN OF GARDENS, A 
WELL OF LIVING WATERS, AND STREAMS FROM LEBANON. MADE 
IN THE YEAR 1485. Other inscriptions are quotations from 
the Bible about water and thirst. 

XII. The Eucharist, as symbolized by the action of the 
Child pressing the juice out of a bunch of grapes (Plate 
VII, ga): Annunciation and Crucifixion; Road to Calvary; 
Holy Family: all small tapestries rich with gold in the Appar- 
tamento Borgia at the Vatican. 

XIII. Christ and Mary Magdalen, and the Entombment, 
two small tapestries rich with gold at the Louvre. 


124 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


XIV. Adoration of the Magi, Pietéa, and Triumph of the 
Virgin, at the Cathedral of Sens. All small. The last of the 
three is the longest, and has the central scene flanked with the 
Coronation of Bathsheba by her son Solomon, on the left; 
and with Esther welcomed by Ahasuerus, on the right. The 
last is one of the finest small tapestries in the world. 

XV. Annunciation, and Adoration of the Magi, at the 
Gobelins. 

XVL. Other interesting small tapestries with gold are: the 
Life of the Virgin, in the Altman collection at the Metropolitan 
Museum; the Crucifixion, with other scenes, made about 1519, 
in the Dreicer collection at the same museum, previously in the 
Hainauer collection; Mr. Kahn’s Noli me tangere formerly in 
the Lydig collection; Mr. Mackay’s Adoration of the Magi; 
Mr. Severance’s Childhood of Jesus, in three scenes (Plate 
VII, fa); Mr. George Blumenthal’s Veronicas and Pieta, the 
latter of especial importance; Mr. Ryan’s Pieta; Mr. Arthur 
Lehman’s Holy Family; Virgin and Child, in the Madrid 
Archeological Museum; Deposition, Entombment, and Resur- 
rection, a tapestry in three scenes in the Murray collection, at 
the Victoria and Albert Museum. | 





PLATES VII, b, ba.—ABOVE, NATIVITY; BELOW, INTERCESSION WITH 
THE VIRGIN. FROM THE ROYAL SPANISH VIRGIN SET 


LS TOMEI IB BEES 


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wee is Wilianes War ge ea gaee en ON ann SN 


ROWS 


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Set 


INANE ARRAN mH HEI NANNY 





DUVEEN BROS. 


THE SCENES IN THE RIGHT WING REPRODUCE WITH VARIATIONS 
THE SCENES IN THE LEFT WING OF THE WONDERFUL MAZARIN TAPESTRY. 


PLATE VII, €.—ESTHER AND AUGUSTUS. 





PLATES VII, d, da.—ABOVE, DETAIL FROM MR. BLUMENTHAL’S CHARLE- 
MAGNE TAPESTRY, SHOWING KING ARTHUR AND GODFREY DE BOUILLON WITH 
THEIR COATS-OF-ARMS. BELOW, DETAIL OF MR. PHILIP LEHMAN’S VERONICA 
TAPESTRY, FORMERLY IN THE KNOLE AND LATER IN THE MORGAN COLLECTION 





PLATE VII, €.—VESPASIAN KNEELING BEFORE VERONICA, DETAIL FROM MR. PHILIP LEHMAN'S 
VERONICA TAPESTRY 





iF 
aM : a ie Sa ass aes al 


PLATES vu, f, fa.—ABOVE, MR. PHILIP LEHMAN’S VERONICA, THE MOST BEAUTIFUL 
TAPESTRY OF THE KNOLE-MORGAN COLLECTION. BELOW, MR. SEVERANCE’S “CHILDHOOD 
OF JESUS” IN THREE SCENES 





S CHRIST AND THE WOMAN, 


IDENER’ 


, MR. W 


—ABOVE 


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MALL TAPESTRY 


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OF THE VATICAN 


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BELOW 





PLATES VU, h, ha.—ABOVE, MRS. F. T. BRADBURY’S SAINT. CLAUDE 
TAPESTRY, FORMERLY IN THE KNOLE-MORGAN COLLECTION. BELOW, 
NATIVITY, ONE OF A GROUP OF FOUR TAPESTRIES RICH WITH GOLD 
IN THE COLLECTION OF THE SARAGOSSA CATHEDRALS 





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CHAPTER VIII 
FLEMISH AND FRENCH RENAISSANCE TAPESTRIES 


BERNARD VAN ORLEY, LUCAS VAN LEYDEN, RAPHAEL, GIULIO ROMANO 
FONTAINEBLEAU 


RENAISSANCE tapestries have many virtues. The borders 
are wide and interesting. The texture, though inferior, to 
that of Gothic tapestries, still possesses power. The com- 
positions are clear and picturesque, though less suitable for 
tapestry technique, because of the lowering of the horizon 
and the consequent increase of uninteresting sky; because of 
the introduction of photographic perspective and the conse- 
quent centralizing of the attention, and weakening of the back- 
eround; because of the introduction of too many horizontals, 
and the consequent complication and confusion of lines. The 
colours are harmonious and pleasing, though the reds are 
weak as compared with Gothic, and the golden yellows and 
eream whites occupy too much of the surface. 

The only Renaissance tapestries that equal the great 
Gothies are those picturing the Passion of Christ, designed 
by Bernard van Orley, court, painter to Margaret of Austria 
(Regent of the Netherlands and aunt of the Emperor Charles 
V), and made in Brussels between 1515 and 1530. Their 
ereatness is due to their having retained so many of the 
virtues of Gothic design and texture, and being Renaissance 
_ principally as regards details of costume and architecture. In 
some respects they are even superior to most of the Late 
Gothies rich with gold. They are much more dramatic, and 
fasten the attention more quickly and more forcefully. Like 
them, they are square in shape, so that the centralizing of the 
interest does not harm. As in them, gold has been employed 
with marvelous skill, and lavishly. Most important of all, the 
125 


126 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


full-size cartoons were executed by the master painter him- 
self, and the tapestries were woven under his direct super- 
vision, so that the perfection of detail is extraordinary. There 
are six in the Royal Spanish collection: 


TI. Last Supper (Plate 66 of Valencia Spanish). 
II. Gethsemane (Plate 28 of Valencia Spanish). 
III. Road to Calvary (Plate 29 of Valencia Spanish). 
IV. Crucifixion (Plate 26 of Valencia Spanish). 
V. Crucifixion (Plate 30 of Valencia Spanish). 
VI. Deposition (Plate 31 of Valencia Spanish). 


Nos. II, III, V, VI, have the same border and were made 
as a set for Margaret of Austria, who bequeathed them to her 
nephew the Emperor Charles V. They were woven at Brus- 
sels, by Pierre van Pannamaker. On Sept. 1, 1520, Bernard 
van Orley witnessed a contract made between Margaret of 
Austria and Pierre van Pannamaker for the weaving of two 
Passion tapestries. No. I was purchased by Charles V from 
Pierre van Panamaker, at the price of 38 florins a square ell. 
These five tapestries are 11 feet 4 inches high and nearly 
square. No. IV isconsiderably smaller. Itis one of the three 
tapestries constituting the Dais of Charles V. It is in Van 
Orley’s early style, while he was still under the influence of 
his predecessors, and before he had completely developed 
his own individuality. Also from Van Orley’s early period 
are the Baptism of Christ in the Brussels Cinquentenaire 
Museum, (Plate 21 of Destrée Cinquentenaire), and Mr. 
George Blumenthal’s Crucifixion (Plate VII, ¢). 

The finest set of Van Orley Passion tapestries is in 
America, three-fourths of it: 


I. Last Supper, in the collection of Mr. Philip Lehman (Plate VIII, ca). 
II. Gethsemane, in the collection of Mr. Joseph Widener. 
III. Road to Calvary, in the Jacquemart-André Museum, Paris. 
IV. Crucifixion, formerly in the Morgan-Dollfus collection, now in the collee- 
tion of Mr. Joseph Widener. 


RENAISSANCE TAPESTRIES 127 


This set excels in weave, and the border is much better 
than that of the Spanish set. Nos. II, III, and IV were once 
in the Berwick and Alba collections (Nos. 5, 6, 7 of the cata- 
logue, Paris 1877). No. I duplicates the panel but not the 
border of No. I in the Royal Spanish collection. Nos. II and 
IIT duplicate Nos. II and III of the same collection. No. IV 
is altogether different from, and vastly superior to No. V of 
the Spanish collection. Mr. Lehman’s Last Supper (Plate 
VIII, ca) I cannot sufficiently praise. For me it is the finest of 
all the Van Orley tapestries that have survived (Plate VIII, b). 
Mr. Widener is fortunate to have the small Pieta from 
the Berwick and Alba collection. The design duplicates that 
of one of Van Orley’s paintings in the Brussels Museum of 
Painting—the middle section of the Hanneton Triptych—but 
the tapestry is more fully developed and incomparably supe- 
rior as a work of art. The border is exquisitely rich. The 
Metropolitan Museum has the small Adoration of the Magi 
formerly in the Altman-Hainauer collection (Plate VIII, a). 

Interesting, but not all comparable with the Passion tap- 
estries, are Van Orley’s: 


I. Notre Dame de Sablon, a set of four large tapestries formerly in the 
Spitzer collection, two of them divided, each into three fragments. 
The most important of the four is now in the Brussels Cinquentenaire 
Museum (Plate 79 of Hunter 1912). 
II. Romulus and Remus, in six pieces, in the Royal Spanish collection 
(Plates 41 to 46 of Valencia). 
III. Battle of Pavia, a set of seven large tapestries in the Naples Museum 
(Plate 309 of Hunter 1912). 
IV. Hunts of Maximilian, a set of twelve large tapestries in the Louvre 
(Plate VIII, d, da). 
V. Mr. Albright’s two Story of Isaac tapestries shown at the Buffalo 
Tapestry Exhibition, 1914. 
VI. The Homage Scene listed by Schmidt as belonging to the German State 
Seeretary von Kuhlmann (Plate No. 114 of Schmidt Bildteppiche). 
VII. The large David and Goliath tapestry of the Ffoulke collection, shown 
at the Avery Library Tapestry Exhibition, 1914, and at the Brussels 
Tapestry Exhibition, 1905. (Plate 43 of Ffoulke in colour.) 


128 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


VIII. Months, of which there are two in the Metropolitan Museum, and two 
of a different set in the Palazzo Doria. 


Count Tiele-Winckler’s Story of Jacob in ten pieces is also 
by Van Orley, but the Story of Abraham, at Hampton Court, 
with duplicate sets in Madrid and Vienna, is by Giulio Romano. 

The Notre Dame de Sablon set listed (Plate 79 of Hunter 
1912) is on the border line that separates Renaissance from 
Gothic. The columns and borders are Renaissance, but the 
background architecture is still Gothic and the inscriptions 
that fill half the border are in Gothic lettering. The tapes- 
tries were presented to a church in Brussels, Notre Dame de 
Sablon, that is still in existence, by Francis de Taxis, Imperial 
Postmaster of Charles V, who inscribed in Latin in the right 
border of the tapestry that is in the Brussels Museum: 


The worthy Francis de Taxis of pious memory, master of the posts, had 
this made in 1518. 


The tapestry is divided by columns into three panels, and 
Francis de Taxis appears in each scene. The youthful Charles 
V and his brother Ferdinand appear in the middle panel; 
their father Philip the Handsome, and grandfather Maximilian, 
in the scene on the left; and Ferdinand with his four sisters 
and his aunt, Margaret of Austria, in the panel on the right. 
The coat-of-arms in the top border is that of Margaret of 
Austria. The story of the tapestry is told in the Latin inscrip- 
tions and on pages 78-80 of Hunter 1912. 

The Romulus and Remus set listed above is one of the most 
delightful products of Brussels Renaissance looms. It has a 
rich Van Orley -border, and at the top long narrow panels 
earrying a Latin inscription in Roman letters. 

The Battle of Pavia, commemorating the victory of the 
Imperial troops over the French, in 1525, is less agreeable. 
Four of the borders are missing and have been replaced by 
strips of painted canvas. The height of this set is 13 feet 9 
inches, with leneths from 251% to 29 feet. There are numerous 


RENAISSANCE TAPESTRIES 129 


portraits, among them one of the French king Francis I being 
taken prisoner. The set was presented to the Emperor 
Charles V by the States General of the Netherlands, in 1531. 
Van Orley’s original small sketches are in the Louvre. 

The Hunts of Maximilian, (Plate VIII, da) which introduce, 
long after his death, portraits of the Emperor Maximilian, 
grandfather of the Emperor Charles V, and also portraits 
of Charles V and his brother Ferdinand, are exceedingly inter- 
esting and are a vivid picture of the life and conditions of the 
period. The Hunts take place in the Forest of Soigne in the 
neighborhood of Brussels. Many of the landscapes and much 
of the architecture have been identified (Consult Migeon 
Maaimilian). Wach of the tapestries bears the appropriate 
sign of the Zodiac in the top border. The original small 
sketches are in the Louvre (Plate VIII, d). The tapestries 
were probably woven after 1530 and bear a monogram not yet 
identified. They were captured in the baggage of the Emperor 
Charles V after his unsuccessful siege of Metz, and thus came 
into the possession of the victorious general the Duke of Guise. 
Hence the name often applied to them, Les Belles Chasses 
de Guise. | 

MONTHS OF LUCAS 


The Months of Lucas, (Plate VIII, e) have by some been 
assigned to Van Orley, but I prefer to accept the traditional 
attribution to Lucas van Leyden. They naturally show the 
influence of Van Orley and of the period. Mrs. KE. H. Harriman 
has five of them—April, May, September, October, December 
—10'% feet high and nearly square, the longest being 13 feet 
9 inches. All have the appropiate sign of the Zodiac in the 
top border, and in the upper corners medallion portraits of 
the Emperor Charles and his wife Isabella of Portugal pic- 
tured as ancient. Romans, besides medallions of cherubs in the 
lower corners. The designs must have been made shortly after 
the marriage of Charles V in 1526. Both Charles and Isa- 


130 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


bella appear several times in the set, notably three times 
in January, which as shown in my illustration of the Gobelin | 
reproduction (Plate XXII, b) has floor tiles patterned with the 
Imperial double eagle. 


ITALIAN VS. FLEMISH-ITALIAN DESIGNS 


Flemish Renaissance tapestries of the early period divide 
themselves into two groups of designs—Italian, and Flemish- 
Italian. We have already regarded the WFlemish-Italian 
designs of which Bernard van Orley was the chief exponent. 
We now come to the purely Italian designs of Raphael and 
Giulio Romano. As a rule the tapestries of Flemish-Italian 
design had borders with flower and fruit motifs (Plates 
VIII, ec, d, e) which while wider than Late Gothic borders were 
narrower than the compartment borders introduced by the 
Italians (Plate VIII, g). But sometimes we find Flemish 
borders framing Italian designs (Plate VIII, ga). 


RAPHAEL’S ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 


The most famous set of tapestries in the world is the Acts 
of the Apostles, with gold, designed by Raphael for Pope Leo 
X. They were first shown, seven of them, the others not being 
yet completed, in the Sistine Chapel on the day after Christ- 
mas, 1519. According to one of the guests: ‘‘They were con- 
sidered by everybody the most beautiful specimens of the 
weaver’s art ever executed.’? They were made in Brussels 
by Peter van Aclst, tapestry merchant and manufacturer, who 
had been Philip the Handsome’s tapestry chamberlain, under 
the supervision of Bernard van Orley. The weaving is said 
to have cost 1,500 ducats apiece (about $4,500). The painting 
of the cartoons cost 100 dueats apiece, making the total cost 
of the set 16,000 ducats (about $48,000), although rumor had it 
that the total cost of the set was 20,000 ducats. These tapes- 
tries are still one of the greatest glories of the Vatican, where 
they are always to be seen in the long narrow tapestry gallery 


RENAISSANCE TAPESTRIES 131 


that does not display them to advantage, the light being unfav- 
orable. They were removed from the Sistine Chapel by the 
imperial troops under the Constable Bourbon, who sacked 
Rome in 1527, and sold as booty. Of one of the tapestries 
‘‘Wlymas Struck Blind,’’ only half ever came back, and that in 
fragments in bad condition. Two of the tapestries wandered 
to Constantinople where they were bought by the Constable 
Montmorency, and by him returned to the Vatican, as com- 
memorated in the Latin inscription at the bottom of one of the 
woven pilasters. In 1798 this famous set again left the Vat- 
ican. It was sold at auction, with the rest of the Vatican fur- 
nishings, by the French Army under Berthier for 1,250 piastres 
each. It was taken to Paris by the dealers who bought it and 
offered for sale to the French Government. For a time it 
hung inthe Louvre. Finally in 1808 it returned to the Vatican 
where it has since remained. 


THE RAPHAEL CARTOONS 


In the Photograph Room of the Library of the Metropol- 
itan Museum are large photographs picturing the Vatican set 
as it is now, made for Mr. Morgan and by him presented to the 
museum. The subjects of the tapestries are: 


T, The Miraculous Draught of Fish. 
II. The Charge to Saint Peter. 
TIT. The Cure of the Paralytie. 
TV. The Death of Ananias. 
V. The Stoning of Saint Stephen. 
VI. The Conversion of Saint Paul. 
VII. Elymas Struck Blind. 
VIII. The Sacrifice at Lystra. 
TX. Saint Paul on the Areopagus. 
X. Saint Paul in Prison. 


Seven of the full-size cartoons are in the Victoria and 
Albert Museum (Plate VIIJf). They are left-handed because 
planned for low-warp looms, that in weaving reverse the pat- 


132 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


tern, the tapestry that faces down reproducing the cartoon that 
faces up (Plate XIX, c). [admit frankly that I like the Raphael 
Cartoons better than the Raphael tapestries. The composi- 
tions are better suited to paint technique than to tapestry 
technique. But while admitting this, I place the Vatican 
Acts of the Apostles next to the Van Orley Passion, among 
Renaissance tapestries, which shows how extreme is my admir- 
ation of the Cartoons. 

Oddly enough the Vatican Acts of the Apostles never really 
had any borders, merely a woven band between each pair of 
tapestries, a narrow woven moulding at the top, and at the 
bottom a woven base simulating marble bas-relief. This was 
due to the architectural conditions of the Sistine Chapel for 
which the tapestries were designed. The large frescoes 
beneath which the tapestries formerly hung are separated by 
painted pilasters. The tapestries, being spaced to the size 
of the paintings above, had a woven pilaster designed to go 
between each pair of tapestries, continuing the line of the 
pilaster above. These pilasters were woven separately and 
are now attached sometimes to one tapestry, sometimes to 
another. For subsequent sets of the Acts of the Apostles, the 
woven pilasters were developed into full sets of compartment 
borders, (i.e., with compartments containing allegorical fig- 
ures) on three sides (Plate VIII, g). 

The popularity of this set of tapestries can best be judged . 
by the number of reproductions made not only at Brussels in 
the sixteenth century but also at Brussels and other places 
in the sixteenth,.seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth cen- 
turies, some good and many bad. The best of those made 
at Brussels in the sixteenth century are now in the Royal Span- 
ish collection, in the Berlin Museum, at Mantua in Italy, in 
the National Austrian collection. From these reproductions 
‘St. Paul in Prison’’ was uniformly omitted because of its 
small size and lack of interest. One of the finest Brussels 


RENAISSANCE TAPESTRIES 133 


sets of the sixteenth century was burned at Paris in 1797, by 
order of the Directory, for the gold it contained. The small 
Life of Christ tapestries in the Vatican woven after Raphael’s 
death, with several duplicates at the Castle in Mantua, are 
detestable. Raphael would be ashamed of them. Whoever 
painted the large cartoons made a mess of it. Also, the weave 
is bad, though rich with gold and attributed to Peter van Aelst. 


GIULIO ROMANO 


As a designer of tapestries, Giulio Romano was the most 
prolific Italian. After he left Rome for Mantua, his reputa- 
tion as Raphael’s favorite assistant brought him many orders 
for sketches to be expanded into tapestry. Some of these 
orders came from Ferrara, where some of the tapestries from 
Giulio’s sketches were probably woven, or at least woven 
first. Ferrara tapestries look so much like Flemish that it 
is hard to distinguish them, which is perhaps not strange, 
inasmuch as the master weavers were Flemings fresh from 
the Netherlands. Among famous Flemish sets rightly attrib- 
uted to Giulio Romano, are: 


I. Story of Scipio, of which there are four in Mr. Hearst’s collection 
(Plate VIII, ga). 

II. Fruits of War, of which there are two Late Renaissance sets in the 
National Austrian collection, signed with the monogram of Martin 
Reymbouts. 

III. Triumphs of the Gods, of which there are three signed with the mono- 
gram of Francois Geubels, in the French National collection. 

IV. Grotesque Mouths, for illustrations of which I refer the reader to the 
Gobelin reproductions (See Fenaille Gobelins, volume IT). 

V. Children Playing, of which there is a set of six in the Royal Spanish 
collection, and another set of six in the collection of Count Dona 
delle Rose, Venice, signed with the monogram of William van 
Pannamaker. 

VI. Story of Abraham, of which there is a set rich with gold at Hampton 

; Court (Plate VIII, g), and sets without gold in the Royal Spanish 
and National Austrian collections. 


134 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


VII. Story of Mercury and Herse, of which two rich with gold are in the 
George Blumenthal collection, and the others still in Madrid in the 
possession of the heirs of the Duchess of Denia—the Duke of 
Medinaceli (3), the Count of Gavia, the Duchess of Aliaga, the 
Duke of Tarifa. 


For illustration and description of Scipio sets made in the 
sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, I refer the 
reader to Colonel d’Astier’s Belle Tapisserte du Roy (Paris, 
1907). The designs were inspired by Petrarch’s Latin poem, 
Africa, an epic on Scipio Africanus. Fifteen out of twenty- 
two of the original small sketches are in the Louvre. The 
sketches appear to have been brought to France by Giulio 
Romano’s assistant Primaticcio, who was commissioned to 
take them to Brussels to have them developed into tapestries 
by Mare Crétif. This set was purchased by Francis I for 
the Chateau of Madrid, and burned in 1797 for the gold it con- 
tained. Mr. Hearst’s four pieces (Plate VIII, ga) belong toa 
set made about 1550 for the Marshal de Saint-André, of the 
Albon family the arms of which they carry in the border. 
The set passed later into the collection of Cardinal Mazarin, 
and after that into the Royal French collection. It escaped 
into private possession during the French Revolution. The 
set of seven, with narrow border, in the Royal Spanish collec- 
tion, was bought from an Antwerp dealer in 1544 by Mary 
of Hungary, sister of Charles V, who succeeded Margaret of 
Austria as Regent of the Netherlands. The Royal Spanish 
collection also contains two Late Renaissance sets, each in six 
pieces and both with gold, made at the beginning of the seven- 
teenth century : one with narrow border, signed with the mono- 
gram of Martin Reymbouts; the other with wide allegorical 
compartment border. There are duplicates of five of the last 
named set in America. 

Tn the Salting collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum, 
there is one of the original small sketches for Children Play- 
ing, as well as a tapestry attributed by the museum tapes- 


RENAISSANCE TAPESTRIES 135 


try catalogue to Ferrara or Florence. It may be Ferrara, 
it cannot be Florence. For the Moses set of the Cathedral of 
Milan, see Chapter XV. 


OTHER FLEMISH RENAISSANCE TAPESTRIES 


Monumental Flemish Renaissance sets in the Royal Span- 
ish collection, a large proportion of them bearing the Brussels 
mark and the monogram of the maker, are: the Apocalypse, 
Saint Anthony, Seven Deadly Sins, Conquest of Tunis by 
Charles V, Vertumnus and Pomona, all rich with gold; 
Triumphs of Petrarch, Story of Tobias, Saint Paul, Venus, 
Cyrus the Great, without gold. The Vertumnus and Pomona 
sets, three with gold and one without gold, are especially 
attractive. Two of them hang in the large dining-room of the 
Royal Palace in Madrid. In the Conquest of Tunis, which is 
too military and too crowded with soldiers to be interesting, 
appear portraits of Charles V and of the designer, Jean 
Vermeyen. There are long Spanish inscriptions in the top 
border, and long Latin inscriptions in the bottom border. The 
set consists of ten large pieces, and was made by William 
van Pannamaker. 

Flemish Renaissance sets in the National Austrian collec- 
tionare: (1) Joshua, Moses, Saint Paul, Tobias, Romulus and 
Remus; (2) Months, Virtues, Vertumnus and Pomona, Deadly 
Sins, Ages of the World, Diana, David, Hercules. Most of 
these bear the monogram of the maker and the Brussels mark. 
Four of an Early Renaissance set of Vertumnus and Pomona, 
with Latin Gothic inscriptions and of different design from 
the four sets in the Royal Spanish collection are now in 
America. These were formerly in the Berwick and Alba 
collection. Five of an Early Renaissance set introducing 
Charles V and his intimates, are in the Gardner collection 
at Fenway Court, Boston. Five pieces of a Renaissance 
Story of Vulcan, with gold were sold in Paris at the Hotel 
Drouot on May 23, 1887, and are illustrated in the catalogue. 


136 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


I hope some one of my readers will be able to locate them for 
me. This is the set that was copied so successfully at Mortlake. 
In the last half of the sixteenth century the Netherlands 
suffered greatly from religious troubles, and from the cam- 
paigns of the Duke of Alba. Industry generally came to a 
standstill. Many of the Protestant tapestry weavers sought 
refuge in other countries. Among them was Francis Spiering 
who went to Delft, and whose Story of Diana, formerly in the 
Barney collection, and formerly exhibited at the Metropolitan 
Museum is one of the best sets of the Late Renaissance (Plate 
VIII, ea). The frieze-shaped David tapestry, narrow and long, 
at Williams College, bears Spiering’s signature. I am indebted 
to Mrs. Ii. Parmelee Prentice for a photograph of it. Mrs. 
Ray Atherton of Chicago also has a tapestry signed by 
Spiering and dated 1602. Spiering made the famous Defeat 
of the Spanish Armada set, that hung in the British House of 
Lords until burned with the Houses of Parliament in 1834. 
Much inferior were the tapestries made by Spiering’s designer, 
Karl van Mander, who somewhat trickily set up for himself 
as a manufacturer in Delft, and several of whose signed tap- 
estries formerly in the Prince Demidoff collection sold at San 
Donato in 1880 are now in America. The half of one in the 
Chicago Art Institute is signed IKVMANDER FEcIT. AN. 1619, at 
top of the bottom border, except that the kvm are combined 
into a monogram. The 1 stands for wvenit—designed. 
Flemish Late Renaissance tapestry borders (from 1560 to 
1615), are a combination of the Karly Renaissance ‘‘Italian’’ 
and ‘‘Flemish-Italian,’’ retaining the width and often the 
allegorical figures of the Italian, but covering the ground 
richly with flat Flemish verdure (Plate VIII ea). The sub- 
stitution of wide sculptural borders for these wide, flat verdure 
borders, marks the transition, about 1615, from Renaissance 
to Baroque. Most Flemish Late Renaissance tapestries are 
obviously a continuation of the traditions of the middle of the 


RENAISSANCE TAPESTRIES 137 


sixteenth century, and sometimes are close but inferior copies. 
As a rule they lessen the story interest, so that their stories 
are difficult to identify except by reference to the earlier tapes- 
tries that inspired them. 


ENGHIEN LARGE LEAF VERDURES 


Distinetively Enghien of the middle of the sixteenth cen- 
tury are the ‘‘large leaf verdures,’’ with reds usually gone, 
which was once called Gothic because of the spiky edges of 
the huge curling leaves. The borders when preserved are 
always full Renaissance. There are two, with borders, in 
the collection of Mrs. Harold I. Pratt; three fragments in the 
Metropolitan Museum; and a set of seven in the National 
Austrian collection, some of which bear the mark of Gram- 
mont, a suburb of Enghien; besides many elsewhere. 


FRENCH RENAISSANCE TAPESTRIES 


France was a poor second at tapestry weaving in the six- 
teenth century. The religious sets of the first half of the 
century were archaic and crude. One of the best of these 
sets made at Tours in 1527 is Saint Saturnin, 814 feet high, of 
which there is one long piece in three scenes at Angers, and 
one scene in the Chateau de Langeais. The French inscrip- 
tions in the bottom border and the Latin inscription on the 
scroll of the Langeais piece are in Gothic lettering. On the 
third scene of the Angers piece there are portraits of the 
donors, Jacques de Beaune, Baron de Semblencay and his wife, 
Jeanne Ruzé. The whites are dominant in most of these 
Touraine tapestries. Touraine tapestries from the last half of 
the century are the Gombaut and Macée set, with five or six 
French quatrains on each, in Roman lettering, of which many 
examples have survived, the best known being the set at Saint 
Lo. The set was copied at the Early Gobelins, with new 
borders. Felletin Renaissance tapestries were still cruder 


138 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


than those of Touraine. The Nine Preux at the Chateau de 
Langeais, of which there are several examples in America, 
seem to me typical. 


FONTAINEBLEAU RENAISSANCE TAPESTRIES 


At Fontainebleau, the story is different. Every effort was 
made by Francis I and Henri I to rival Brussels. Oddly 
enough the most important set that survives is not in France, 
but in the National Austrian collection (Plates VIII, h, ha). 
The designs were copied from the stuccoes and paintings of 
the Francis I gallery of the Chateau at Fontainebleau, exe- 
cuted by Il Rosso; with exception of the Dance, that was by 
Primaticcio, who had worked under Ginlio Romano at Mantua. 
The cartoons were painted by Claude Baudouin, and among 
the weavers were Jean and Pierre Lebries. (L. Dimier in La 
Renaissance de l’Art Francais, April, 1921.) The set con- 
sists of six pieces, each 11 feet high by 20 feet long. It is 
rich with gold, and well woven, but the architectural frame 
work is too heavy. In the middle of the piece illustrated 
(Plate VIII), Francis I appears as a Roman Emperor. The 
other scenes are mythological, picturing the Story of Jupiter 
and Danae, Centaurs and Lapithae, Cleobis and Biton, the 
Death of Adonis, ete. The draftsmanship is splendid. 

Also important is the Story of Diana in eight pieces, seven 
of which are known to survive—four at the Chateau d’Anet, 
one in the Rouen Museum, and two in the Harry Payne 
Whitney collection. The story is told in long French inscrip- 
tions, in Roman lettering, at the top. The subjects of the 
two in the Whitney collection are: (1) Niobe urging her 
People not to worship Latona; (2) Death of Britomart. 

Of a third Fontainebleau set, with oval picture medallions 
in the centre, and with grotesque alentour, there is one com- 
plete tapestry at the Gobelins, (Page 176 of Guiffrey Seiziéme), 
and two fragments. There are also two fragments in the 
Lyons Museum, and several small fragments elsewhere. 


JOHN, DETAIL FROM MR. PHILIP LEHMAN’S ‘LAST SUPPER” 
See Plate VIII, ca 





AGTUO NVA GUVNUAd AO NDISaG ‘GIOD HLIM HOY «ddddOs LSV1,, SNVWHOT dITIHd “UN ‘LHDIN FHL 
NO ‘AUTHO NVA GUVNUAA AO NOISAG ‘GIOD HLIM HOI «NOIXTMIONYO,, SJIVHLNEWO TE “YW ‘LAGT AHL NO—'vd ‘0 ‘IIIA SULVId 








PLATES VIII, d, da.—ABOVE, BERNARD VAN ORLEY’S ORIGINAL SKETCH NOW 
IN THE LOUVRE, FOR FEBRUARY, ONE OF THE TWELVE ‘HUNTS OF MAXIMILIAN.” 
BELOW, THE TAPESTRY, MADE AT BRUSSELS WITH GOLD IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 





PLATES VIII, €, €€a.—ABOVE, APRIL, ONE OF MRS. HE. H. HARRI— 


) 


MAN’S “MONTHS OF LUCAS,’ MADE AT BRUSSELS IN THE SIXTEENTH 
CENTURY. BELOW, “DIANA AND EGERIA,” ONE OF MRS. ‘5. F. 
HUTTON’S LATE RENAISSANCE “STORY OF DIANA,” MADE IN DELFT 
AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 





PLATES VIII, f, fai—ABOVE, CHRIST’S CHARGE TO PETER, ONE OF THE SEVEN LARGE 
CARTOONS NOW IN THE VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM, DESIGN OF RAPHAEL. BELOW, THE 
FIRST TAPESTRY WOVEN FROM THIS CARTOON, ONE OF THE SET MADE AT BRUSSELS IN THE 
FIRST QUARTER OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY FOR POPE LEO X 





PLATES VIII, g, ga.—ABOVE, SACRIFICE OF ISAAC, ONE OF THE “STORY OF ABRAHAM” 
TAPESTRIES AT HAMPTON COURT, DESIGN OF GIULIO ROMANO. BELOW, CARTHAGINIAN SUP— 
PLIANTS, ONE OF MR. HEARST’S FOUR RENAISSANCE ‘‘SCIPIO” TAPESTRIES, DESIGN OF 
GIULIO ROMANO 





PLATES VIII, h, ha.—ABOVE, DANAE, DETAIL OF ONE OF SIX FRENCH RENAISSANCE 
TAPESTRIES RICH WITH GOLD MADE AT FONTAINEBLEAU IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SIXTEENTH 


CENTURY. BELOW, FRANCIS I AS ROMAN EMPEROR, ANOTHER TAPESTRY OF THE SAME SET. 
IN THE NATIONAL AUSTRIAN COLLECTION 


NOWEAT SHUTUVHO AG GANDISAG ‘SHIULSAdVL 
NIT4HOD (ONIN GHL AO AUOLS, SQONVA AHL FO ANO ‘WuIMNOG OLNI AIX SINOT JO AULNA IVHAWOINL—'® ‘XI ALVId 


oe 


o 


ge 
ee. 





CHAPTER TX 
GOBELIN TAPESTRIES OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 


EARLY GOBELINS, DUBREUIL’S DIANA, ARTEMISIA, RINALDO AND 

ARMIDA, PSYCHE, THE GREAT CONDE, LOUIS XIV GOBELINS, RENAIS- 

SANCE DESIGNS COPIED, GIULIO ROMANO AND RAPHAEL, MONTHS 
OF LUCAS 


IN THE seventeenth century, supremacy in tapestry weav- 
ing passed from Flanders to France, from Brussels to Paris. 
The finest tapestries of this century were woven at the Gobe- 
lins. The tapestries of the Early Gobelins (1601-1662) are 
equal to those of Brussels in weave, and are superior in design, 
while the Louis XIV Gobelins excel greatly both in design and 
weave. This artistic supremacy was made possible by the 
political and commercial supremacy of France. It was 
directly due to the encouragement of the tapestry industry 
in France by the French kings Henri IV and Louis XIV. It 
began with the establishment of the Gobelin Tapestry Works 
in Paris, on the left side of the Seine, at the end of the long 
Avenue des Gobelins, by two tapestry manufacturers whom 
Henri IV persuaded to immigrate from Flanders. 

The story is told briefly in the two tablets on each side of 
the entrance gate of the Gobelins. The name Gobelins is that 
of the dye plant taken over. As the tablet on the left says: 
‘¢ Jean and Philibert Gobelin, merchant dyers of scarlet, who 
have left their name to this quarter of Paris and to the tapes- 
try factory, had their works here at the end of the fifteenth 
century.’’ The tablet on the right says: ‘‘ April, 1601, Mare 
de Comans and Francois de la Planche, Flemish tapestry 
weavers, install their workrooms on the banks of the Biévre.’’ 
Marc de Comans came from Brussels, Frans van der Planken 

139 


140 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


(the Flemish form of the name) from Oudenarde. They were 
not laborers, but capitalists and merchants whose success was 
due to their business sagacity. While they received large sub- 
ventions and important privileges, there were also burdens 
like the training of apprentices and the establishing of tapestry 
factories in the provinces. This in accordance with the edict 
of Henri IV incorporating the enterprise in 1607. Not long 
after the death of Francois de la Planche in 1627, his son 
Raphael drew out his interest and founded a rival factory in 
the Faubourg St. Germain on the Rue de la Chaise. The 
tapestries made at these two plants, as well as at the other 
plants amalgamated with the Gobelins in 1662 (those of the 
Louvre and la Trinité, in Paris, and the one established by 
Fouquet at Maincy near his palace Vaux-le-Vicomte) I call 
Early Gobelins, which seems to me less misleading than the 
Vieux Paris common in auction catalogues. 

There are two contrasting groups of Early Gobelins, those 
with wide and heavy Baroque borders, like the great Diana and 
Artemisia sets; and the later Classic ones, with narrower bor- 
ders of Italian inspiration, like those on the Metropolitan 
Museum’s Foundation of Rome which was woven at the Louvre 
by Pierre Lefebre, head of the Medici Tapestry Works in 
Florence but called back to his native France by Mazarin in 
1647 (Consult Page 293, Vol. I, of Fenaille Gobelins). 


DUBREUIL’S DIANA 


At the head of the Baroque group of Early Gobelins, stands 
the Diana set of eight tapestries rich with gold and silver, 
designed by Toussaint Dubreuil. There are sets in the 
National French, Royal Spanish, and National Austrian col- 
lections, and five of the set in the Morgan Memorial at Hart- 
ford. Mr. Albright’s ‘‘Diana rejecting Otus’’ was No. 60 in the 
catalogue of the Buffalo Tapestry Exhibition, 1914. 

Formerly there were five of this Diana set, without gold, 


TAPESTRIES OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 141 


in the Wanamaker collection. The story of Diana (Consult 
Ovid’s Metamorphoses and Gayley Classic Myths) lends itself 
to tapestry illustration. There is a splendid example of 
‘‘Diana before Jupiter’’ in the Hartford set. The gods are 
assembled in solemn council, Mars, Venus, and Cupid, and 
Mercury, on the right; Juno, Minerva, Cybele, Bacchus, Pan, 
and Ceres, on the left, all magnificently clothed and with their 
distinctive attributes. Diana, marked by lunette in her hait, 
kneels before the throne of Jupiter, beseeching him for per- 
petual virginity. 

Another powerful tapestry of the set, is Niobe’s Children, 
one of which is at Hartford, and another of which was No. 19 
in the catalogue of the Cleveland Tapestry Exhibition, lent by 
Jacques Seligmann. Niobe was the wife of Jupiter’s son 
‘Amphion, and the mother of seven strong sons and seven 
beautiful daughters. She boastfully compared her fourteen 
children to Latona’s two, and urged her people to worship 
her instead of Latona. Latona appealed to her two children 
Apollo and Diana, who, as shown in the tapestry, fired their 
fatal arrows from the sky and slew all of the fourteen chil- 
dren, one after another. 

There is now a ‘‘ Diana shooting Orion’’ in the Wildenstein 
collection. In this tapestry Diana appears twice, once in the 
foreground, seated, with her maidens and dogs, once high on 
the left in the act of shooting at a mark indicated by her 
brother Apollo. Orion was a mighty hunter favored by Diana. 
Apollo disapproved but his chidings were in vain. One day 
seeing Orion in the distance wading in deep water with his 
head just exposed, Apollo pointed out the tiny black object as 
something Diana could not hit. She shot and hit. The waves 
rolled to land the body of Orion dead. Diana sorrowfully 
placed him as a constellation among the stars, a giant with 
girdle, sword, lion’s skin and club. Sirius, his dog follows 
him. The Pleiads, once nymphs of Diana, fly before him. 


142 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


ARTEMISIA 


Another famous set of Harly Gobelins is the Story of 
Artemisia of which there are five (two of them entrefenetres) 
in the Metropolitan Museum, lent by Mrs. H. N. Slater; ten in 
the collection of Mr. Edward B. Mclean, formerly in the 
Ffoulke collection; and twenty-eight in the National French 
collection, from four different sets. Artemisia was Queen of 
Caria in Asia Minor in the fourth century B.C. Mourning her 
husband Mausolus, she built him such a magnificent monument 
that similar monuments have ever since been called mauso- 
deums. The statues of Mausolus and Artemisia from the 
monument are now in the British Museum. Some of the many 
designs, executed by Antoine Caron and others in the sixteenth 
century to celebrate the widowhood of Catherine de Medici, 
appear to have first gone on the looms in the reign of Louis 
XIII to celebrate the widowhood of Marie de Medici, and to 
have been repeated later to celebrate the widowhood of Anne 
of Austria, mother of Louis XIV. Mrs. Slater’s three larger 
panels are: (1) Artemisia rewarding the Orator who deliv- 
ered the best funeral oration over Mausolus; (2) Artemisia 
and the young prince at table listen to the Architect; (3) The 
Prince consecrated to the arts of Peace and War. 

Other important sets of Early Gobelins from the Ffoulke 
collection (Consult Ffoulke Tapestries) are Mr. Hearst’s 
- Coriolanus; and Mrs. Twombly’s Amintas and Sylvia, and 
Rinaldo and Armida. 


RINALDO AND ARMIDA 


Rinaldo and Armida was cartooned after paintings by 
Simon Vouet illustrating Tasso’s ‘‘ Jerusalem Delivered,’’ and 
is signed with the monogram of Raphael dela Planche. Armida, 
daughter of the King of Damascus, and niece of a famous 
magician, goes at the suggestion of her uncle to the camp of 
the Crusaders, and asks Godfrey de Bouillon for ten of his 
knights to help her organize her still faithful subjects against 


TAPESTRIES OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 143 


ausurper. Many of the youthful Crusaders are so enchanted 
by her beauty that they follow her, even without Godfrey’s 
consent. Rinaldo remains insensible to her charms, but hav- 
ing quarreled with the Prince of Norway, leaves camp to 
avoid Godfrey’s reproof. Accidentally he encounters all the 
- knights who had followed Armida, being taken by her to 
Damascus as prisoners. He releases them, whereupon Armida 
puts him to sleep with a siren song, intending to kill him before 
he wakes. Instead she falls in love with him, and bears 
him magically away through the air to one of the Isles of 
Fortune in the Atlantic. He wakes loving her as she loves 
him. The most attractive of Mrs. Twombly’s set, of which 
there is a duplicate in the Hampton Shops collection, also made 
in the shop of Raphael de la Planche, pictures ‘‘ Rinaldo in the 
arms of Armida.’’ On the extreme left, partly hidden in the 
trees, are Carlo and Ubaldo come to recall Rinaldo to duty. 
On the right, attended by cupids, reclines Rinaldo holding a 
mirror into which Armida gazes, kneeling beside him and 
adorning her hair with a string of pearls. In the words 
of Tasso: 


She, with glad looks, he with inflamed, alas, 
Beauty and love beheld, both in one seat, 
She in the glass; he saw them in her eyes. 


In 1639 was published the Ariane of Desmarets de Saint- 
Sorlin, illustrated with seventeen engravings by Abraham 
Bosse, after Claude Vignon. ‘Tapestries based on two of these 
engravings are in the collection of French & Co. Duplicates 
of them without borders were in the second Stanford White 
sale, 1907. The subjects are ‘‘Ariane kills two Scythians,”’ 
and ‘‘Melinte escapes on horseback carrying Ariane.’’ There 
are three others of the set in Madame Guiffrey’s collection 
(Page 370, Vol. I of Fenaille Gobelins). 

Harly Gobelin Tapestries in the Metropolitan Museum are 
the ‘Diana with her Maidens”’ (Plate IX, ca); and the three 


144 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


‘¢Boundation of Rome’’ panels, after Giulio Romano. This 
Diana tapestry has nothing to do with the Diana set 
after Dubreuil, named above, but suggests the style of 
Nicolas Poussin. 

STORY OF PSYCHE 


Most attractive among Early Gobelins from the point of 
view of both design and story interest, is the Story of Psyche 
(Plates LX, d, e) based on the designs of Raphael, or one of 
his pupils, as reproduced in the engravings of Agostino 
Veneziano (Plate IX, ea, and Chapter XVIII). Itis perhaps 
needless to say that for tapestry reproduction at the Karly 
Gobelins, the nudities of the original designs were elaborately 
suppressed. For the story, see the description of Boucher’s 
Psyche set in Chapter XI. There are two Karly Gobelin 
Psyche sets in the National French collection, one of them 
at Pau. There are five of the Early Gobelin Psyche set in 
the collection of Mrs. W. K. Vanderbilt, Jr., among them 
Psyche’s Toilet and Psyche at Dinner. A brilliant example 
of Psyche carried to the Mountain was No. 21 in the cata- 
logue of the Cleveland Tapestry Exhibition, 1918, lent by 
Jacques Seligmann. 


THE GREAT CONDE 


One of the most interesting of the Early Gobelins with 
which I am acquainted is the ‘‘Submission to Louis XIV 
of the Great Condé,’’ No. 20 in the catalogue of the Cleveland 
Tapestry Exhibition, lent by Mr. Howard P. Eells. It bears 
the two dates 1659 and 1664, years of beginning and comple- 
tion. Condé was called Great because of his success as 
leader of the’ armies of France. Becoming dissatisfied with 
the government of his native country, he went over to the 
Spanish. It was one of the provisions of the Peace of the 
Pyrenees made in 1659 between France and Spain that Condé 
should be pardoned. Condé was himself a Bourbon and con- 
sequently has his robe adorned with fleurs-de-lis, and three 


TAPESTRIES OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 145 


fleurs-de-lis on his coat-of-arms at the top of the tapestry. 
The bar sinister shows that he belonged to the younger branch 
of the family. Condé kneels in the foreground, his diadem on 
the ground beside him, taking the oath of loyalty to the youth- 
ful Louis XIV, whose long flowing hair is beautifully rendered. 
Other Early Gobelin tapestries connected with the youth of 
Louis XIV are the two formerly in the Mercy d’Argentan 
collection of Belgium, sold at the American Art Galleries on 
January 21, 1921, and illustrated in the catalogue. One of the 
tapestries shows Mazarin’s niece Marie Mancini masquerad- 
ing as the Royal Hunter; the other, Louis XIV as Diana. It 
was Marie Mancini who said to Louis XIV when her uncle 
insisted on parting the sweethearts: ‘‘You are King, you 
weep, and yet I go.’”’ 


LOUIS XIV GOBELINS 


Since the reorganization in 1662 of the Gobelins as a State 
institution, the world’s finest tapestries have been woven in 
France. The reorganization vastly increased the size and 
financial resources of the establishment, and made it the con- 
stant recipient of heavy government orders, while leaving 
the shop proprietors free to take private orders. It also 
brought to the Gobelins as Director, from the service of 
Fouquet at Vaux-le-Vicomte, Charles Lebrun who for twenty- 
eight years was to be decorative dictator of France. Lebrun 
was a syndicate rather than an individual. He understood 
how to get the best out of many different painters, each at his 
specialty better than himself. Monumental sets created by 
him are the Story of the King, in 14 pieces, the Story of 
Alexander, in 11, the Royal Residences, in 12. The Story of 
the King (Plate IX, a) is the most important set ever made at 
the Gobelins. Here we find an official and solemn glorification 
of important events during the first twenty-five of the sev- 
enty-two years of the reign of Louis XIV (1643-1715). The 
complete set was woven once on high-warp looms, three times 


146 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


on low-warp looms, all with gold. The high-warp set was 17 
feet high with a united length of 354 feet, and cost 166,698 
livres. It is still preserved in the National French Collec- 
tion, together with two of the low-warp sets. The low-warp 
sets were only 13 feet high. Vandermeulen, who had a salary 
of 6000 livres a year and apartments at the Gobelins, was 
given the landscapes and views of cities to prepare, accom- 
panying the King on his campaigns. The original small 
sketches were, by Lebrun. The full-size cartoons for the high- 
warp were painted by the elder Ivart, Testelin, the elder 
Mathieu, and the junior Seve. The left-handed full-size car- 
toons for the low warp were painted by Bonnemer, Saint- 
Andre, Ballin, and De Melun. The first two sets went on the 
looms in 1665 and were completed in 1680. The third set was 
completed in 1715, and the fourth set in 1735. The sub- 


jects are: 


I. Coronation of Louis XIV in the Cathedral of Reims, June 7, 1654. 
II. Interview of Louis XIV and Philip IV of Spain at the Isle des 
Faisans, June 7, 1660. 
III. Marriage of Louis XIV with Marie-Therése of Austria, eldest daughter 
of Philip IV, June 9, 1660. 
IV. Satisfaction given to the King by the Spanish Ambassador, March 
24, 1662. 
V. Entry of the King into Dunkirk after having recovered it from the 
English, December 2, 1662. 
VI. Reduction of the city of Marsal in Lorraine, September 1, 1663. 
VII. Renewal of the Alliance between France and the Swiss, at the Cathe- 
dral of Notre Dame in Paris, November 18, 1663. 
VIII. Audience given by the King at Fontainebleau to the Pope’s Legate, 
Cardinal Chigi, July 29, 1664. 
IX. Siege of Tournai where Louis XIV exposed himself to the enemy’s 
fire, June 21, 1667. 
X. Siege of Douai in July, 1667. The King in danger. 
XI. Capture of Lille in August, 1667. 
XII. Defeat of the Spanish under Count Marsin near Bruges, August 31, 
1667. 
XIII. Visit of Louis XIV to the Gobelins with Colbert, October 15, 1667. 
XIV. Capture of Déle, February 16, 1668, the King commanding in person. 


TAPESTRIES OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 147 


- One of the high-warp set, the Entry of Louis XIV into 
Dunkirk is illustrated on Plate IX, a. In the middle of the 
bottom border is the inscription: 


ENTRY OF KING LOUIS XIV INTO 

DUNKIRK THE SECOND OF DECEMBER 

MDCLXII AFTER HAVING RECOVERED 

THIS CITY FROM THE HANDS OF THE ENGLISH 


The King on horseback, baton in hand, rides’towards Dunkirk, 
preceded and accompanied by alarge escort. ‘The inscriptions 
over the sphinxes in the side borders, on the left, Louis xm, 
1668, and on the right, touts xu, 1671, show that the tapes- 
try was begun in 1668 and completed in 1671. The Royal 
coat-of-arms is in the middle of the top border, with the 
Royal sun-burst and Nec PLURIBUS IMPAR, In each corner. 
In the lower corners of the tapestry, the King’s monogram 
with crown. 

The Story of Alexander was in special favour at the French 
Court because it seemed to reflect the victories of Louis XIV 
in those of Alexander. By 1686 it had been produced five 
times in high warp, and three times in low warp, all with gold 
except the last. There is a complete high-warp set in the 
National Austrian collection. Four of one of the sets were 
exhibited by the French Government at San Francisco in 1915 
and at the Brooklyn Museum in 1918. The set was copied over 
and over again at Brussels, Oudenarde, and Aubusson. 

The Royal Residences—Versailles, Madrid, Louvre, Tui- 
leries, Chambord, etc., one for each month of the year, with 
hunting scenes, promenades, cavalcades, balls—scenes appro- 
priate to the season—was woven over and over again between 
1668 and 1680. 

Other sets created by Lebrun were: Verdures, Meleager, 
Muses, Elements and Seasons, Child Gardeners. The best 
examples of Child Gardeners are in the National French col- 


148 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


lection, the Florence Tapestry collection, and the collection 
of Lord Iveagh. 

Of the Story of Moses, eight were by Poussin; (Plate 
IX, c), two by Lebrun. 

An attractive set of six, woven three times in the seven- 
teenth century and three times in the eighteenth was based 
on the paintings of Mignard at St. Cloud. The subjects are: 
Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, Parnassus, Latona. There 
is a Winter at the Hotel Commodore, formerly at Sherry’s. 

The Indies (Plate 333, Hunter 1912), was based on paint- 
ings presented to the King by the Prince of Nassau. They 
pictured in rich profusion the men, animals, plants, and 
fruits of the Indies ‘‘painted on the spot.’’ The subjects are: 
Zebra, Two Bulls, Klephant, Indian Hunter, Animals Fight- 
ing, King carried by Moors, Indian on Horseback, Fishermen. 


RENAISSANCE DESIGNS COPIED 


Sets of tapestries copied from sixteenth century tapestries, 
paintings, or engravings are: 
I. Acts of the Apostles, after Raphael. 
II. Constantine, after Raphael and Giulio Romano. 
III. Chambers of the Vatican, after Raphael. 
IV. Triumphs of the Gods, after Giulio Romano. 
V. Mythological Subjects, after Giulio Romano. 
VI. Mythological Subjects, after Raphael. 
VII. Fruits of War, after Giulio Romano. 
VIII. Story of Scipio, after Giulio Romano. 
IX. Hunts of Maximilian, after Bernard Van Orley. 
X. Grotesque Months, after Giulio Romano. 
XI. Months of Lucas, after Lucas van Leyden. 


Nearly all of these are richly represented in the National 
French collection, with numerous repetitions. Many of these 
are always on exhibition at the Louvre, the Gobelins, Ver- 
sailles, and other French museums. 

The set of Raphael’s Acts of the Apostles, copied by the 
junior Jans from a Brussels Renaissance set, has disappeared. 


TAPESTRIES OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY § 149 


It was in ten pieces, and rich with gold. The tenth piece 
showed God the Father in a blaze of glory, supported by the 
symbols of the Four Evangelists. 

The Early Gobelins had woven the story of Constantine 
after designs by Rubens. Of these there are seven in the 
National Austrian collection, and many in the National 
French collection. 

The Constantine set of the Louis XIV Gobelins is a differ- | 
ent one begun at Maincy for Fouquet. Four of these were | 
based on the Vatican paintings of Raphael and Giulio Romano, 
while the others were original compositions of Lebrun. Part 
of this Constantine set is duplicated in the later Chambers 
of the Vatican, in ten pieces, based on copies of Raphael’s 
frescoes, made by pupils of the French School at Rome. The 
first three picture the battle of Constantine against Maxentius. 
The others are: Vision of the Cross by Constantine, School 
of Athens, Mass of Bolsena, Attila chased from Rome, Parnas- 
sus, Heliodorus expelled from the Temple, Burning of Rome. 
The Parnassus is especially effective in tapestry. There are 
four of the set in the National Austrian collection. 

The Triumphs of the Gods, in eight pieces, after Giulio 
Romano, reflect the mural paintings of ancient Rome, with 
compartments framed in fanciful architecture like that of the 
Boscoreale Frescoes of the Metropolitan Museum, and are 
full of nudities. They are closely related to the pilasters of the 
Loggie of the Vatican, to the Psyche paintings in the Palazzo 
del Te at Mantua, and to certain friezes in the Castel St. 
Angelo that suggest the erotic pictures of Giulio Romano 
around which Aretin wrote verses. The cartoons for these 
Gobelin tapestries were based by Noel Coypel on a set of 
Brussels tapestries, with gold, three of which are still in the 
National French collection. Of the Gobelin Triumphs of the 
Gods (Bacchus, Venus, Apollo, Minerva, Mars, Hercules, 
Religion, Philosophy), there are many in the Garde Meuble 
at Paris, and others at Fontainebleau, in the French Academy 


150 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


at Rome, in the collection of the city of Paris, in the Florence 
Tapestry collection, besides the Minerva at the Gobelins, 
and the Hercules at the Louvre. 


GIULIO ROMANO AND RAPHAEL 


Fascinating and with fascinating borders are the Mytho- 
logical Subjects, one set of eight after Giulio Romano, the 
other set of eight after Raphael. The Giulio Romano set is 
based largely on his Psyche Room in the Palazzo del Te at 
Mantua, but expurgated and with fewer nudities (Compare 
Plate IX, f, with Plate IX, fa). It will be noticed that in the 
Bath tapestry as drawn by Giulio Romano, the personages 
are Mars and Venus attended by Cupid, while in the Gobelin 
adaptation by Person, Mars and Venus have been transformed 
to Cupid and Psyche. There are Louis XVI Gobelin repro- 
dictions, without borders, of this tapestry and of the Left 
Dance of the Nymphs, in the collection of the Duke of Alba. 
There are Louis XIV sets of these Giulio Romano Mytholo- 
ical Subjects in the Louvre, in the Palais de 1’Elysée, and at 
Compiégne. The Raphael Mythological Subjects are: Judg- 
ment of Paris, Elopement of Helen, Marriage of Alexander and 
Roxane, Wedding of Cupid and Psyche, Venus and Adonis, 
Venus in her Chariot, Right Dance of Nymphs and Satyr, 
Left Dance of Nymphs and Satyr. There are fewer nudities 
than in the original designs, but even at that, in order to please 
Madame de Maintenon, fleshly portions of a completed Mar- 
riage of Alexander and Roxane had to be cut out and replaced 
with draperies. The Raphael set as a whole is not nearly as 
attractive as the one after Giulio Romano. There are two of 
the Raphael sets in the National French collection, all high 
warp and with gold. 

The Fruits of War, after Giulio Romano, was copied from 
a Brussels Renaissance set presented to Mazarin by the King 
of Spain after the ratification of the Peace of the Pyrenees. 


TAPESTRIES OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 151 


It is closely related to a cannon-firing fresco by Giulio Romano 
in the Castel Sant’Angelo. 

The Scipio set after Giulio Romano, was copied from a 
Brussels Renaissance set of ten, also from the Mazarin col- 
lection. The subjects are: (1) Roman Navy, (2) Scipio 
receives the Carthaginian Envoys, (3) Attack on Carthagena, 
(4) Banquet, (5) Continence of Scipio, (6) Battle of Zama, 
(7) Scipio saves his Father, (8) Scipio and Hannibal, (9) 
Another Battle, (10) Burning the Numidian Camp. 

The Grotesque Months, after Giulio Romano, incorrectly 
called the Arabesque Months, was copied from a Brussels 
Renaissance set, rich with gold, that in 1797 was one of seven- 
teen ancient sets burned for the gold they contained. Each 
month has the life-size figure of its tutelary god under a canopy 
in the middle, with the proper sign of the Zodiac inside a frame 
held in the right hand of the god, and a Latin inscription in 
the top border. On each side of the panel are small landscapes 
appropriate to the season. There are pieces from different 
low-warp sets without gold at Pau, in the Louvre, and at the 
Garde Meuble. 

The Hunts of Maximilian after Van Orley was copied from 
a Brussels Renaissance set, with gold, now on exhibition at the 
Louvre (See Chapter VIII). There are sets at Chantilly, 
Fontainebleau, at the Garde Meuble, and in the collection of 
the city of Paris. , 


MONTHS OF LUCAS 


The Months of Lucas, after Lucas van Leyden, was copied 
from a Brussels Renaissance set rich with gold, also burned in 
1797. The first set was made for Colbert before 1682. Ten 
pieces of the second set are at Pau, the other two at Leningrad. 
These were low-warp sets. The finest set of the Months of 
Lueas ever woven was by Audran at the Gobelins in the sec- 
ond quarter of the eighteenth century for the Count of Tou- 
louse (See Chapter XII and Plates XII, b, ce, d; XVII, e, f). 


152 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


The nine Months in the National Austrian collection (Set 
No. XX XVIII), made at Bruges in the last half of the seven- 
teenth century, are greatly inferior to any of the Gobelin sets, 
and only in small part from the same designs. 

The Balloch Castle Seasons of Lucas, rich with gold, in 
the collection of Mr. Frank H. Ginn, appears to have been 
copied from sixteenth century tapestries of the same designer, 
and made privately by Gobelin weavers in the last half of 
the reign of Louis XIV. Several sets of these Seasons some 
earlier and some later, some Gobelin and some not Gobelin, 
have passed through European auction rooms in the last fif- 
teen years. There are duplicates, with some of the panels ex- 
tended, of three of these Seasons in the collection of Mrs. Wm. 
Bayard Cutting, and in that of Mrs. John T. Morse, Jr. Mrs. 
Morse’s were purchased by her father at the Louis Philippe 
sale in 1852. The finest set in the United States is the four, 
each 13 by 19 feet that enrich the walls of the Brookline Trust 
Co. (Plate XXI, g). They were formerly in the collection of 
Viscount Wimbourne, and were made in one of the Gobelin 
shops about 1690. 





PLATE IX, b.—TRIUMPHAL ENTRY OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT INTO BABYLON, ONE OF THE FAMOUS “STORY OF 
ALEXANDER’ TAPESTRIES, DESIGNED BY CHARLES LEBRUN, SHOWN WITH OTHER GOBELIN TAPESTRIES IN THE EXHIBITION 
OF THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT AT THE PANAMA-—PACIFIC EXPOSITION, SAN FRANCISCO, I915, AND AT THE BROOKLYN 
MUSEUM IN IQI8 


3.3 
: 
: 
: 
2 
M4 
: 





PLATES IX, C,, Ca.—ABOVE, FINDING OF MOSES, LOUIS XIV GOBELIN TAPESTRY, 
DESIGN OF POUSSIN. BELOW, DIANA BATHING, AN EARLY GOBELIN TAPESTRY WITH SOME 
METAL, IN THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, PROBABLY DESIGN OF POUSSIN 


4 





PLATE IX, d.—THE THREE GODDESSES, VENUS, JUNO AND CERES. ONE OF A SET OF EARLY GOBELIN 
TAPESTRIES PICTURING THE STORY OF CUPID AND PSYCHE BASED ON DESIGNS FROM RAPHAEL’S STUDIO, ENGRAVED 


BY AGOSTINO VENEZIANO. JACQUES SELIGMANN AND SON 





PLATES IX, €, €&a.—ABOVE, OLD WOMAN TELLING THE 
STORY OF PSYCHE, ONE OF A SERIES OF PSYCHE DESIGNS 
FROM THE STUDIO OF RAPHAEL, AS ENGRAVED BY 
AGOSTINO VENEZIANO, IN THE FRENCH BIBLIOTHEQUE 
NATIONALE. BELOW, EARLY GOBELIN TAPESTRY IN THE 
FRENCH NATIONAL COLLECTION 





PLATES Ix, f, fa.—ABOVE, GIULIO ROMANO’S FRESCO OF MARS AND 
VENUS, IN THE PSYCHE ROOM OF THE PALAZZO DEL TE, MANTUA. BELOW, 
LOUIS XIV GOBELIN TAPESTRY IN THE LOUVRE BASED ON THIS DESIGN, 
BUT WITH MARS AND VENUS CHANGED INTO CUPID AND PSYCHE. 





PLATES X, a, @2&.—THE STORY OF DECIUS. ABOVE, ORIGINAL LARGE CAR- 
TOON BY RUBENS, IN THE GALLERY OF PRINCE LIECHTENSTEIN, VIENNA. BELOW, 
TAPESTRY WOVEN IN BRUSSELS FROM THIS CARTOON, IN THE SECOND QUARTER 
OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. NATIONAL AUSTRIAN COLLECTION 


CHAPTER X 


FLEMISH TAPESTRIES OF THE SEVENTEENTH AND 
EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES 


RUBENS, JORDAENS, TENIERS, LOUIS XIV BRUSSELS 
JEAN VAN ORLEY, LOUIS VAN SCHOOR 


Durine the seventeenth century, the leadership in tapes- 
try weaving passed from Flanders to France, from Brussels 
to the Gobelins in Paris, in spite of the efforts of the Arch- 
dukes, Albert and Isabella, the latter the daughter of Philip II, 
son of Charles V, to restore prosperity to the industries of 
their wasted provinces. Many of the best weavers emigrated 
to Paris and to Mortlake (See Chapters IX and XVI). Nev- 
ertheless, there was a revival of tapestry weaving in the 
Southern Netherlands, especially after the world-famous 
Rubens and his followers began to supply new and spectacular 
designs. Sets created by Rubens are: 


I. Story of Constantine (See Chapter IX). 
II. Story of Decius (Plates X, a, aa). 
III. Triumph of Religion. 
IV. Story of Achilles. 


Of the story of Decius there is a full set in the Palace of 
Prince Liechtenstein in Vienna, where the tapestries can be 
compared with the full-size cartoons executed in Rubens’ stu- 
dio, which hang in the next room (Plate X, a). It will be noticed 
that the cartoons were painted left-handed, for execution on 
low-warp looms that in weaving reverses the direction of the 
design. There are five of the set in the National Austrian 
collection (Plate X, aa) and a complete set in the Royal Span- 
ish collection. The triumph of Religion was designed by 
Rubens about 1625 for the Archduchess Isabella, who pre- 

153 


154 


THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


sented the first set to a convent in Madrid where it still hangs. 
There was a set of eleven in the Berwick and Alba collection 
(Nos. 50 to 60 of the catalogue, Paris, 1877). In recent years 
several pieces have passed through the auction rooms of Paris 
and New York. There are five of the Story of Achilles in 
the Brussels Cinquentenaire Museum, and three in the Boston 
Museum of Fine Arts. 

Typical examples of seventeenth century Baroque weay- 
ing’ are: 


tk 


iL, 


III. 


iv: 


VIII. 


= BG 


Mrs. C. Wheaton Vaughan’s Samson and Delilah, 13 feet 6 inches 
high, in four pieces: One 22 feet long; one 15 feet 4 inches; the 
other two, narrow entrefenetres; signed by Jan Raes with mono- 
gram in right selvage and full name in bottom selvage. Nos. 11, 
12, 13 of the catalogue of the Philadelphia Tapestry Exhibition, 
1915. (Plate X, c). 

Story of Judith, in 8 pieces, lent by Mr. W. Hinckle Smith to the 
Metropolitan Museum. Exhibited at Brussels in 1910, and at the 
Buffalo Tapestry Exhibition in 1914. They are signed in the bottom 
selvage, some H. REYDAMS; the others, E. LEYNIERS (Plate X, b). 

Story of Cleopatra, of which there are five in the Metropolitan 
Museum (Plate X, ca), some signed G. V. D. STRECKEN, the others 
I. V. LEEDAEL or I. V. L. There are also five in the Royal Italian 
collection at Florence; and several with colours fresher than is 
usual in the collection of the Tiffany Studios. 

Story of Solomon, of which there are five in the Hotel St. Regis, signed 
I. V. ZEVNEN. 


. Story of Belisarius, of which there are seven in the Park Lane Hotel, 


signed GILLAME BOLECIR. 


. Story of Augustus, of which there were three in the Morgan collection. 


There are others in the Royal Swedish and Royal Italian collections 
and a full set of eight in the National Austrian collection. 


. Story of Hadrian, of which there were five in the collection of Mr. 


W. A. Read. 

Story of Cyrus, of which seven were exhibited in 1916 at the Harvard 
Club of New York. (Now in the Benjamin Franklin Hotel, 
Philadelphia. ) 

Story of Phaethon, of which there are five at the Morgan Memorial 
in Hartford. 


FLEMISH TAPESTRIES 155 


Most of these tapestries are signed in the bottom selvage 
with the Brussels mark, as well as with the name of the manu- 
facturer. The borders are uniformly wide, with details large 
and in bold relief. The reds have usually faded. 

Renaissance sets often reproduced at Brussels in the seven- 
teenth century, usually with new borders, are: (1) Raphael’s 
Acts of the Apostles, of which there is a set by 1an Raus and 
Jacques Geubels, at Hampton Court, formerly in the Berwick 
and Alba collection, presented to the British Nation by Baron 
d’Erlanger; (2) Giulio Romano’s Scipio; (3) Fruits of War. 
There were four of the Scipio set in the Salomon sale, New 
York, 1923. — CAMA fapestries.. 

LOUIS XIV BRUSSELS TAPESTRIES 


Tn the last third of the seventeenth century there was a 
marked change of style. Borders became narrower, person- 
ages smaller, and the designs less sculptural and better suited 
for interpretation in tapestry. Towards the end of the cen- 
tury gilt-frame borders became common and continued 
through the eighteenth century, when borders were not omitted 
altogether. Verdures, of the type now most commonly known 
by that name, became popular; and verdure backgrounds were 
developed with small personages in the foreground. The 
influence of the Gobelins was so great that sets such as 
Lebrun’s Story of Alexander were frequently copied, and the 
style of the Gobelins and of Beauvais was imitated to such an 
extent that many Brussels tapestries of the Louis XIV 
period have been sold as Gobelins, and are still called Lows 
XIV Brussels. Flemish in design are the teniéres cartooned 
from the peasant painting of Teniers, by his son and others. 
Typical examples are shown on Plates X, d, da, e, ea. The 
weave is uniformly good. As indicated above, eighteenth cen- 
tury tapestries were often made without borders. In the last 
third of the century, in Flanders as in France, designs, colours, 
and weave lost their strength. 


156 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


VAN SCHOOR AND VAN ORLEY 


Two popular designers of Brussels tapestries were Louis 
van Schoor at the end of the seventeenth century, and Jean 
van Orley in the first third of the eighteenth. Van Schoor’s 
name often appears woven on the panel, with the weaver’s 
name in the bottom selvage. The Abundance that was No. 42 
of the Philadelphia Tapestry Exhibition, 1915, was signed Lt. 
VAN. SCHOOR. INVT. PINXT and a. avwERC. The border is a rich 
floral, of the width common from 1680 to 1690, narrower than 
the wide borders of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, 
but wider than the narrow borders of the fifteenth and 
eighteenth, and with few of the architectural and sculptural 
exaggerations of the Baroque style. Other tapestries by Van 
Schoor are the Four Seasons and Abundance formerly in the 
Baumgarten collection, with borders missing. Of these there 
are numerous duplicates. The National Austrian collec- 
tion has a set of eight tapestries signed by Van Schoor and 
Auwerex, with allegorical presentation of the Powers that 
rule the World—Monarchia, Fortitudo, Magnificentia, Fidel- 
itas, Simplicitas, Abundantia, Sapientia, Mandatum; a, bril- 
liant set of eight signed by Gerard Peemans picturing Apollo, 
Minerva and the Muses; another brilliant set of eight signed 
by Van Schoor and Jan van der Borght (1. v. p. B.) picturing, 
Sacrifice of the Four Seasons to Apollo, Minerva welcomed 
by the Muses, Flora crowned by Cupid and Zephyrus, Bacchus 
brought by Mercury to the Nymphs, Venus and Adonis, 
Bacchus and Ariadne, Kurydice. 

Jean van Orley’s tapestries have slenderer personages, 
and narrow gilt frame borders. A typical example is the 
New York Public Library’s Parnassus, 1312 by 214% feet, 
sioned 1.pE.vos. The subordinate banquet scene on the right 
Van Orley borrowed from Raphael’s Story of Psyche in the 
Farnesina. The chariot of the Sun in the sky is reminiscent 
of Raphael’s Judgment of Paris, while the group of Apollo 


FLEMISH TAPESTRIES 157 


and the Muses is a development from Van Schoor. For fur- 
ther details see the Library’s pamphlet entitled the ‘‘ Parnas- 
sus Tapestry.’? Another attractive Van Orley tapestry is 
the Feast of Bacchus belonging to Mrs. Frederic Pratt of 
Buffalo. The Cathedral of Bruges has a set of eight Van 
Orley tapestries picturing the Life of Christ. It also has the 
full-size cartoons from which they were woven. A Brussels 
reproduction of the principal panel, 124% by 19 feet, of the 
Atalanta and Meleager series designed by Lebrun for Fou- 
quet, was No. 53 in the catalogue of the Philadelphia Tapestry 
Exhibition, 1915. It is signed c. permans. A Meleager set 
of nine tapestries, 10 feet high, with heavy Baroque borders, 
of Flemish design, hangs in the drawing room of Mr. Cyrus 
McCormick. It came from the Island of Mallorca, from the 
collection of Don Raimon d’Allones. It was bought in Ant- 
werp in 1679 for Don Ramon Forton, Count of Montenegro 
and Mantua, a resident of Mallorca. The correspondence 
connected with placing and delivering the order has been pre- 
served. Exact sizes of each panel, and the various expenses— 
for lining, packing, export duties at Antwerp, and import 
duties into Holland, freight from Antwerp to Amsterdam, 
export papers from Amsterdam, insurance to Mallorca, bro- 
kerage, and commission are all given in detail. Part payment 
was made with the proceeds of oil sold for Don Ramon in 
Amsterdam. I found on measurement that the tapestries 
are narrower, but 3 inches higher now than when they were 
new. This is a change of shape to be expected, due to the 
weight of tapestries stretching them vertically. 

Other Louis XIV Brussels tapestries in America are the 
Commerce belonging to Mr. Robert Goelet, previously in 
the Stanford White collection; the four large Story of Cyrus 
tapestries, formerly in the collection of the Archduke Franz 
Ferdinand of Austria-Este, with his arms in modern tapestry 
attached at the top, now in New York in the White-Allom 


158 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


collection. The four are signed by the Van der Borghts, 
Jacob and Francois. 

Mrs. H. N. Slater has five eighteenth century Brussels 
tapestries picturing the Story of Telemachus. There is one 
of the set in the Brussels Cinquentenaire Museum (Plate 36 
of the catalogue). The Brussels Museum has several fine 
teniéres, and the Victoria and Albert Museum has one. The 
two large tenieres in the Musée des Arts Deécoratifs were 
made not in Brussels, but in Beauvais, which followed Brus- 
sels as soon as the new style became popular. 

The largest and finest groups of teniéres and other Brus- 
sels tapestries of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries are 
those of the National Austrian collection. 





PLATE X, b.—TRIUMPH OF JUDITH, ONE OF MR. HINCKLE SMITH’S IMPOSING SET OF EIGHT BRUSSELS SEVENTEENTH 
CENTURY “STORY OF JUDITH” TAPESTRIES, LENT TO THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART 





PLATES X, C, Ca.—ABOVE, BETRAYAL OF SAMSON, ONE OF MRS. C. WHEATON 
VAUGHAN’S “‘SAMSON AND DELILAH” TAPESTRIES, WOVEN AT BRUSSELS EARLY IN 
THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY BY IAN RAES. BELOW, BATTLE OF ACTIUM, ONE OF 
THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM'S “ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA’ TAPESTRIES, WOVEN AT 
BRUSSELS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY BY IAN VAN LEEFDAEL 











PLATES X, d, da.—ABOVE, TENIERE, WOVEN IN BRUSSELS EARLY IN THE EIGHTEENTH 
CENTURY BY D. LEYNIERS. BELOW, A TYPICAL OUDENARDE VERDURE 


i 
3 
a 
Hw 
ee 
: 
: 
: 
: 
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3 
= 
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PLATES X, €, €&a.—ABOVE, SANCHO PANZA TOSSED IN A BLANKET, EIGHTEENTH 
CENTURY BRUSSELS TAPESTRY, SIGNED BY U. LEYNIERS, IN THE CLEVELAND MUSEUM. 
BELOW, THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY'S “PARNASSUS,’’ MADE AT BRUSSELS EARLY IN 


THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY, SIGNED BY I. DE VOS 








PLATE XI, a.—JUPITER. AND ANTIOPE, ONE OF MRS. E. F. HUTTON’S PAIR OF EXQUISITELY 
BEAUTIFUL BEAUVAIS-BOUCHERS. THE TITLE LISTED ON THE RECORDS OF THE BEAUVAIS WORKS 
IS JUPITER EN RAISIN, THUS BLENDING TWO ANCIENT STORIES, JUPITER EN SATYR AND 
BACCHUS EN RAISIN 


CHAPTER XI 
BEAUVAIS TAPESTRIES 


BEHAGLE AND BERAIN, TELEMACHUS, OUDRY, BOUCHER, PSYCHE 
CHINESE SET, LOVES OF THE GODS, NOBLE PASTORALE, HUET-BOUCHER 
PASTORALS, CONQUEST OF THE INDIES 


THE famous tapestry factory at Beauvais, fifty miles 
north of Paris, was founded in 1664. This was an important 
step in the seventeenth century campaign that transferred 
supremacy in the tapestry industry from Flanders to France. 
Colbert wanted not only a State factory producing mainly 
for the State, but also a private factory producing for the 
general public and for export. Having decided to take over 
‘and organize the Gobelins as the State factory, he encour- 
aged Louis Hinart a Paris tapestry dealer born in Beauvais, 
and with looms in Flanders, to establish a private factory in 
‘Beauvais which already had a reputation for weaving ‘‘small, 
cheap and common’’ tapestries. 

Hinart had no reason to complain of the generosity with 
which he was treated by the French Crown. He received on 
Joan 30,000 livres towards the acquisition of the necessary 
real estate and buildings, and another 30,000 livres for the 
‘purchase of supplies. He also received 20 livres for every 
foreign workman attracted to France, a bonus of 20 livres 
for every set of tapestries over 45 feet long exported abroad, 
and 30 livres a year toward the maintenance of each of 50 
-apprentices. During the twenty years 1664 to 1684, he drew 
from the royal treasury over 250,000 livres of which 94,666 
livres paid for 254 tapestries, the rest being subventions of 
one kind or another. 

“Most of these tapestries were verdures, some of them 
based on the designs of Rubens’ assistant Jacques Fouquiéres 
159 


160 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


(1580-1659). Compared with the tapestries then being made 
at the Gobelins they were inexpensive, costing only from one- 
half to one-fourth as much per foot. Many of them were very 
coarse, but some were enriched with gold, notable a set of 
Children Playing. 

Either there was no money to be made weaving verdures 
in France at this period, or Hinart was a bad manager. In 
1684 his financial difficulties were such that he was obliged 
to retire, and his place as proprietor of the Beauvais Tapestry 
Works was taken by his competitor Philip Béhagle, a native 
of Tournai established in Paris, whose success had been 
marked by the order received from Madame de Montespan to 
make a set of tapestries after oo by Bérain for her little 
son, the Count of Toulouse. | 


BEHAGLE AND BERAIN 


Naturally the favor of Montespan meant the favor of the 
King. An inscription engraved on the garden wall of the 
Beauvais Tapestry Works says: ‘‘King Louis XIV rested 
under this shade in 1686. Sieur Béhagle was then director 
of the factory.’’ The twenty years of Béhagle’s proprietor- 
ship (1684-1705) was a period of great activity. When the 
Gobelins shut down in 1693 for lack of money in the royal 
treasury, Béhagle was able to give employment to many of 
the weavers. 3 

Béhagle was ambitious. He was not content to confine 
himself to verdures like Hinart. He employed Jean Bérain 
and other painters to originate important figure pieces. 

The most noteworthy example of Béhagle’s work in Amer- 
ica is the set of six Italian Grotesques after Bérain, in the 
collection of Mr. Clarence H. Mackay (Plate XI, c). The 
seventh of this original set of eight is in the Victoria and Albert 
Museum, given by Mrs. John Mackay in 1909. Six of a simi- 
lar set, but with different border and two subjects different, 
woven after Bérain’s death, are in the Museum at Aix-en- 


BEAUVAIS TAPESTRIES 161 


Provence. Two of the set with a wider border are illustrated 
in Badin Beauvais (opposite pages 12 and 16). One of these 
two is in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs. 

The most elaborate single Beauvais-Béhagle tapestry in 
America is the armorial, 12 feet 9 by 14 feet 6, of the Duke of 
Boufflers, Marshal of France, with portrait medallions of 
himself and wife, lent by Mrs. Archibald Thomson to the 
Philadelphia Tapestry Exhibition of 1915 (No. 70 in the cata- 
logue). Like several of the Mackay set it bears the signa- 
ture BEHAGLE. 

A famous set of four tapestries signed by both Bérain and 
Béhagle, formerly in the Hirsch collection and recently in 
America, is the Marine Divinities rich with silver and gold, 
bearing in the lower corners the coat-of-arms of the Count of 
Toulouse, son of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan, and 
High Admiral of France, for whom they were woven. The 
central figures are:(1) Amphitrite, (2) Venus, (3) Hurus, (4) 
Thetis. In the fourth tapestry the youthful Admiral is seen 
receiving helmet, cuirass and shield, from Thetis. 

The Martin Le Roy collection (See Plates XIT and XIII of 
v. 4 of the catalogue, Paris 1908) has Apollo and Mars, two 
out of an original set of twelve designed by Bérain and origi- 
nated by Béhagle, picturing the Twelve Great Gods. There 
are four of a similar set in the Chateau d’Alaincourt, and four 
others in the Chateau de Vantoux. 

The Beauvais Cathedral has a set of eight of Raphael’s 
Acts of the Apostles made and signed by Béhagle (Plate 91 
of Hunter 1912). 

Of the Conquests of Louis the Great designed by Vander- 
meulen’s pupil Jean Baptiste Martin, commonly known as 
‘‘Martin of the Battles,’’ there is an inferior piece at Ver- 
sailles (the Battle of Cassel), while Badin Beauvais locates 
two pieces rich with gold in Florence. In the Royal Swedish 
collection (See Boettiger Swedish) there are four large tap- 
estries rich with silver and gold picturing battles of the Swed- 


162 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


ish King Charles XI against Denmark, cartooned by Martin — 
after sketches of the paintings by Lembke, with borders by 
Vernansal after Bérain. 

This same Vernansal was also the principal designer of 
the first Beauvais chinotserie set of tapestries. I found his 
woven signature on one. Also, one of those in the Gargan 
sale of 1904 was signed BEHAGLE, which makes it certain that 
the set was originated by Béhagle. The signature BEauvats, 
without maker’s signature, on a panel now in America (Plate 
XI, b) would indicate completion after Béhagle’s death. There 
are two of the set in the Museum of Compiégne. 


STORY OF TELEMACHUS 


Still another set originated by Béhagle is the Story of 
Telemachus (Plate XI, g) designed by Arnault, of Brussels. 
It is much superior both in design and weave to the Brussels 
Telemachus set of the National Austrian collection woven by. 
the Leyniers, as well as to the Telemachus tapestries of the 
Royal Spanish collection, some of them belonging to the 
Leyniers group, the others made in Spain after the cartoons 
of Houasse. 

All of these tapestries were inspired by the ‘‘ Adventures 
of Telemachus’’ the famous story created by Fénelon, Arch- 
bishop of Cambrai, for the political instruction of his pupil the 
Duke of Burgundy, grandson of Louis XIV and heir to the 
throne. What made everybody anxious to read the book as 
soon as published was that in one of the characters Fénelon 
seemed to satirize Louis XIV. 

The tapestry before us (Plate XI, g) shows Telemachus, 
the son of Ulysses, with the features of the youthful Duke of 
Burgundy, saved from the temptations of the Temple of. 
Venus. The scene is Cythera on the Island of Cyprus, 
whither Telemachus had been brought by fate, after being a 
captive in Sicily and a slave in Egypt. At first Telemachus 
had been struck with horror at the dissolute practices of the 


BEAUVAIS TAPESTRIES ~ 163 


beautiful youths and maidens who served the Goddess of Love. 
But as time passed, vice became familiar and no longer 
alarmed him. His innocence was universally derided and his 
modesty was treated as a joke. Every art was used to 
excite his passions. Daily he felt himself less capable of 
resistance. At this critical period arrived Mentor, beloved 
tutor of Telemachus (personifying Fénelon as well as Minerva 
the Goddess of Wisdom). In the tapestry Telemachus kneels 
before Hazael the rich Syrian of whom Mentor is slave. 
Despite Béhagle’s great ability and energy, and success 
in selling tapestries abroad and at home, he got into financial 
difficulties towards the end of his career and left to his wife 
and son Philip a business that was liability rather than asset, 
especially under the unfavorable industrial conditions that 
prevailed in France during the latter part of the reign of 
Louis XIV. They gave up the proprietorship in 1711. 


JEAN BAPTISTE OUDRY 


In 1726 a designer was hired for the Beauvais Tapestry 
Works, destined to regenerate the whole establishment, and 
make it envied by the Gobelins. This designer was the ani- 
mal painter Jean Baptiste Oudry, whose illustrations of 
Lafontaine’s Fables inspired a majority of the tapestry furni- 
ture coverings of the eighteenth century and since, as well as 
many landscape-verdure wall panels with birds and small 
animals. It is interesting to note here that one of Oudry’s 
descendants, also a painter, came to America and settled in 
Pittsburgh, leaving a daughter who is now in Hurope study- 
ing the work of her illustrious ancestor. 

Among sets of tapestries designed by Oudry for Beauvais 
‘are: (1) New Hunts in six pieces, Wolf, Stag, Fox, Wild 
Boar, Limer, Buck; (2) Country Games in 8 pieces, Leapfrog, 
Blind Man’s Buff, Shepherdess, Pied de Boeuf, Knuckle 
Bones, Seesaw, Joueur de Broche, Bagpipe; (3) Comedies of 
Moliére in 4 pieces; (4) Ovid’s Metamorphoses in 8 pieces; 


164 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


(5) Fine Verdures in 10 pieces, Pheasant, Oiseau Royal, Fox, 
Wild Duck, Bittern, Clarinette, Bustard, Charmille, Dog and 
Pheasant, Lion and Wild Boar; (6) Lafontaine’s Fables, Lice 
et Compagne, Deux Chévres, Renard et Buste, Lion et Sang- 
lier, Renard, Raisins, Poissons et Cormoran, Loup et Renard. 
Tt will be noticed that many of these are verdures, thus con- 
tinuing the Beauvais tradition established by Hinart, and 
not neglected by Béhagle or his successors. 

The subjects of the Comedies of Moliére, which appears 
to have been woven only twice, are: (1) Médecin malgré lui, 
(2) Dépit Amoureux, (3) Ecole des Maris, (4) Malade Imagin- 
aire. The last three of these, formerly in the Kann and 
Morgan collections, now adorn the residence of Mrs. William 
Hayward. The one illustrated on Plate XI, ca is the Malade 
Imaginaire. It is signed on the lower left of the panel, J. B. 
Oudry, 1732 and in the bottom selvage with a round shield 
carrying three fleurs-de-lis. The other two of Mrs. Hayward’s 
Oudry tapestries have not only this shield but also N. BESNIER 
A BEAUVAIS, Besnier being the proprietor of the Works. 

The Malade Imaginaire is a comedy in three acts inter- 
spersed with music and dancing, produced in Paris for the 
first time February 10, 1673 and for the fourth time on Feb- 
ruary 17. At the last performance Moliére who himself 
played the part of Argan is reported to have said as he left 
the stage: ‘‘Gentlemen, I have played the part of an imag- 
inary invalid, but I am really an invalid whose illness is seri- 
ous.’’ He died that night. 

Argan, the principal character of the Malade Imaginaire, 
though really in the best of health, spends all his time doctor- 
ing himself, and attempts to compel his older daughter to 
marry a physician in order to have one in the family for 
quick and free consultation. In the tapestry before us (Plate 
XI, ca) he is trying to make his younger daughter further 
his plan. She, seeing on the chair the switch with which he 
intends to coerce her, exclaims: ‘‘Oh, Papa!’’ 


BEAUVAIS 'TAPESTRIES 165 


One of Ovid’s Metamorphoses by Oudry, the Palace of 
Circe, as reproduced later at Aubusson, is shown on Plate 
SOHN 

An important factor in Oudry’s continued success at Beau- 
vais was Nicolas Besnier, who in 1734 became proprietor of 
the Beauvais Tapestry Works, De Mérou the former proprie- 
tor having got into serious financial difficulties. Besnier was a 
splendid manager under whom the Beauvais Tapestry Works 
became so prosperous as to arouse the bitter jealousy of the 
shop proprietors at the Gobelins. Even more important than 
Besnier was Francois Boucher, the greatest tapestry designer 
of the eighteenth century. Oudry had the good sense or good 
luck to give him a trial, and for forty years cartoons by 
Boucher kept the looms of Beauvais busy. 


FRANCOIS BOUCHER 


Of Beauvais-Bouchers there are six sets in forty-five 
pieces: (1) Italian Set in 14 pieces, (Plate XI, d); (2) Story 
of Psyche in 5 pieces (Plates XI, ca and XXI, c) ; (3) Chinese 
Set in 6 pieces (Plate XI, da); (4) Loves of the Gods in 9 
pieces, (Plates XI, a, e, f); (5) Opera Fragments in 5 pleces 
(Frontispiece in colour of Hunter 1912); (6) Noble Pastorale 
in 6 pieces. 

The first three of the Italian set went on the looms in 
1736, the fourth in 1738, the fifth and sixth in 1789, the 
seventh in 1744, the eighth and ninth in 1745, the tenth in 
1746, the eleventh in 1751, the twelfth in 1754, the thirteenth 
and fourteenth in 1762, and there were constant reorders. 
They were small tapestries evidently planned for popular con- 
sumption, but were often woven two in one piece (Plate 
XT, d); and at least once, four in one piece. While less preten- 
tious than the later sets, they possess great charm, and show 
that Boucher during his years spent in Italy must have lived 
a great deal out of doors. The subjects are: Charlatan 
(Plate XI, d), Fortune Teller, Hunters, Fishing, Peep Show, 


166 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


Girls with Grapes, Dancing, Luncheon, Music, Gardening, 
Shepherdess, Tavern Keeper, Parrot, Egg Merchant. There 
are four of them in the collection of Mr. Archer Huntington. 


BOUCHER’S STORY OF PSYCHE 


The Italian set was thrown completely into the shade by 
the Story of Psyche (Plates XI, ea and XXI, c) that went on 
the looms in 1741. Psyche established Boucher as first among 
designers of tapestry. It is a monument not only to his skill 
but also to the beauty of his wife who was his model for all 
or nearly all of the female figures. Clearly Boucher listened 
well to his friend Bachaumont, who advised him when he 
received the commission: ‘‘Read and read again the Psyche 
of Lafontaine, and above all things study well Madame 
Boucher.’’ As the quotation indicates, the story of Psyche 
that Boucher studied was not the ancient Latin narrative of 
Apuleius from the second century A. D., but the vastly 
enriched and improved version made at Chateau Thierry by 
Lafontaine for his friend and patroness the Duchess of Bouil- 
lon, one of the nieces of Mazarin. 

Anciently in Greece, writes Lafontaine, there was a king 
with three marriageable daughters, all beautiful, but most 
beautiful of all, Psyche the youngest. Indeed, she was so 
beautiful as to arouse the jealousy even of Venus, the god- 
dess of Love, who complained bitterly to her son Cupid. 
Presently the two sisters of Psyche married, but because of 
the enchantment of Venus, no suitor sought the hand of 
‘Psyche. Her parents, in distress, questioned the oracle, who 
responded: ‘‘The Husband that destiny reserves for your 
daughter is a cruel monster who lacerates hearts, destroys 
families, feeds on sighs, bathes in tears. . . He is a poi- 
soner and an incendiary, a tyrant who loads young and old 
with chains. Let Psyche be given unto him; let her try to 
please him. Such is the decree of Fate, of Love, and of the 
Gods. Conduct her to a rock on top of a mountain, where her 


BEAUVAIS TAPESTRIES 167 


monstrous husband is waiting. Celebrate her departure with 
funereal pomp, since she must die for her sisters and for you.’’ 

What the oracle urged was done, and Psyche was duly 
abandoned in a desolate and terrible part of the mountains, 
inhabited by dragons, hydras, and other awful beasts. Faint- 
ing with fear, she suddenly felt herself raised gently by a god 
whom she learned to be Zephyr, and conveyed to a wonderful 
palace, where she was welcomed by a troop of lovely maidens, 
who complimented her without end, but failed to answer 
clearly her questions as to the owner of the splendid castle. 

This is the part of the story illustrated by the first of the 
Boucher set, ‘‘Psyche Arrives at Cupid’s Palace.’’ (Plate 
XXI, c). In the middle of the scene flies Zephyr, a beautiful 
youth with butterfly wings, ushering into a Louis XV palace, 
Psyche, beautiful but timid. On the floor, a savonnerie car- 
pet, loosely laid in large folds. On the right and on the left, 
welcoming maidens with flowers and music, and on the 
extreme left an altar of Love, richly garlanded, with cupids 
flying above. | 

Having shown Psyche through the magnificently furnished 
halls and apartments of the palace, the maidens finally usher 
her into a spacious bathroom and start to assist her to disrobe. 
At first she made resistance, but finally let them have their 
way, and all the arts of the boudoir were employed to render 
her body fresh and fragrant. 

After the bath, Psyche Dressing (Plate XI, ea). Boucher 
has chosen to transfer the scene out of doors. Backgrounded 
by classic fountain and pool, and by terrace with classic 
marble steps and balustrade and vase, which are themselves 
backgrounded by woods and sky, sits Psyche, innocently nude, 
soon to be attired by the maidens in wonderful wedding gar- 
ments and adorned with a wreath of diamonds and precious 
stones. In the foreground, a bowl and pitcher in solid plate, 
artfully placed. Altogether, one of Boucher’s best efforts. 

Next came dinner. The table was laden with ambrosia 


168 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


of every variety, and with divine nectar for beverage. But 
Psyche ate little. After the meal, music of lute and voice was 
heard without instrument or singer being visible. Of the songs 
the one that pleased Psyche most began: ‘‘All the universe 
is obedient to Love. Beautiful Psyche, submit your soul to 
him. Without Love all these exquisite objects, these gilded 
frames, woods, gardens, and fountains, have a charm that soon 
fatigues. Love is of your hearts the happiness supreme. 
Love, only love, for naught else counts.’’ 

The next morning the only thing about Psyche’s wedding 
night that troubled her was that her husband had left before 
daylight, warning her that she must never try to see him 
either by the light of day or by lamplight. Nevertheless, the 
honeymoon passed agreeably and rapidly, until Psyche began 
to miss her sisters and long to see them again. Against his 
will, her husband had them brought by Zephyr, god of the 
softest breeze that blows. Psyche’s joy was extreme. She 
kissed her sisters a thousand times, and her caresses were 
returned as warmly as their jealous natures permitted. It 
was bad enough for her to have a palace, each chamber of which 
was worth ten kingdoms such as their husbands had: but to 
be a goddess! It was too much! And she the youngest 
of all! 

Eagerly Psyche hastened to show them her treasures, her 
dresses first—bureaus and cabinets and closets in endless suc- 
cession, all crowded with the most precious and most delicate 
materials fashioned into robes by fairies with more than 
mortal skill. And then vases and bowls of gold and silver, 
chased in finest relief, and bracelets, and rings, and collars, 
and jewels, and pearls, and diamonds in ropes and bands— 
and so on, until her sisters sighed while smiling, and secretly 
hated Psyche for what she had as well as for what she was. 

This is the part of the story illustrated by the third tap- 
estry of the set, ‘‘Psyche Displays her Treasures to her 
Sisters.’? Again the background is a Louis XV palace, with 


BEAUVAIS TAPESTRIES 169 


columns and pilasters and arches, while Psyche on a bench 
that stands on a platform, on the upper step of which is signed, 
‘¢m, BOUCHE,’’ displays her treasures to her two sisters on the 
left. They almost equal her in beauty, and are also lightly 
clad. The furnishings of the apartment are luxurious to a de- 
gree possible only for a great decorator, such as Boucher was. 

On a subsequent visit, Psyche’s sisters questioned her 
closely about her husband, and finally compelled her to admit 
that she had never seen him. The rest was easy. They 
reminded her of the oracle and insisted that her husband was 
the dreadful monster meant, shunning the light because of 
his ugliness. Ultimately he would destroy her, and her only 
hope of escape was to slay him while he slept. So Psyche 
took knife and lamp, with intent to do her sisters’ bidding, but 
no sooner did she see the divine beauty of her sleeping hus- 
band than she thrilled with love for him and—but, alas, a 
drop of hot oil from her lamp fell on his shoulder, burning 
and awakening him. Forthwith he reproached her disobedi- 
ence and flew away. The fourth tapestry, ‘‘Psyche Aban- 
doned by Cupid,”’ is also a scene transferred by Boucher from 
inside to outside. Beside a mountain pool lie Psyche and her 
maidens. Psyche with hand upraised appeals in vain to Cupid, 
whose childish figure recedes rapidly heavenward. 

Deserted and disconsolate, Psyche sets forth in search of 
her husband, finally arriving at the home of an aged fisherman, 
who also makes baskets. The patriarch, who has two youthful 
eranddaughters, receives Psyche kindly; and when she has 
told her story, treats her as a goddess. This part of the 
story is illustrated by the fifth tapestry of the set, ‘<Psyche 
at the Fisherman’s.’? On the left, the grandfather gently 
assisting the alway lightly clad Psyche across the mountain 
stream that separates them from the equally lightly clad 
granddaughters with their baskets and withes. Especially 
rich and effective are the woods and vegetation of this tapes- 
try. Like most modern love stories, the ancient one of Cupid 


170 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


and Psyche has a happy ending, and even Venus is finally per- 
suaded to approve of the marriage, and smiles upon her grand- 
child, Pleasure. 

Mrs. Alexander Hamilton Rice has the complete set 
(Plate XXIJI,c). The Mrs. George Gould collection contained 
a splendid example of ‘‘Psyche displaying her Treasures.’’ 
The Royal Swedish collection contains the complete set with- 
out borders, and the Royal Italian collection at the Quirinal 
has all of the set except the first. Mr. Edward Tuck, an 
American, long resident in Paris has ‘‘Psyche’s Arrival at 
Cupid’s Palace’’ and ‘‘Psyche displaying her Treasures to 
her Sisters’’ combined in one. He has bequeathed them to the 
Petit Palais. They will be the only important Beauvais- 
Boucher tapestries in any French museum. 


BOUCHER-DUMONS CHINESE SET 


In 1743 the Chinese Set went on the looms, originated by 
Boucher in the form of small sketches now in the Besancon 
Museum, and developed into full-size cartoons by Jean Joseph 
Dumons. The subjects are Chinese Banquet, Chinese Fair, 
Chinese Dancing, Chinese Fishing, Chinese Hunting, Chinese 
Toilet. Mrs. E. T. Stotesbury has the second, third and 
fourth of the set, the fourth in two pieces. 

The Chinese Fair (Plate XI, da) belonging to Mrs. F. F. 
Prentiss, and shown at the Cleveland Tapestry exhibitions in 
1918, is as fresh as the day it left the looms. At the top is 
the coat-of-arms of the French King. In the centre, a lady 
sits in a canopied wheel chair. High on a platform behind 
her stand two jugglers, one solemnly reading an announce- 
ment to the public, while the other holds a snake whose out- 
stretched mouth grasps the rim of the unsuspecting ‘‘bark- 
er’s’’? hat. At the left, a bird merchant leans on one of his 
cages, while his little boy fingers a flute, and a noble personage 
counts out money. On the ground, four birds perch upon a 
revolving wheel, beside a covered vase and saucers of exquisite 


BEAUVAIS TAPESTRIES 171 


colour. In the distance, a Chinese gateway with tower. Nearer, 
a cavalier and a crowd of the curious. Still nearer, an elephant 
with rider. Over the head of the two jugglers is a triangular 
banner bearing the Chinese dragon. 

The freshness of the tapestry is due to the fact that for 
most of its existence it was preserved in the metal cylinder 
that conveyed it from Paris to Pekin. It is one of a Chinese 
Set presented to the Chinese emperor, Chien-lung. The other 
five at last accounts were in the Pekin Museum. This is the set 
listed in the Beauvais records of 1763 as 6 pieces of the 
Chinese delivered to M. Bertin to send to China. 

M. Bertin the French Minister of Foreign Affairs was 
anxious to promote artistic relations between France and the 
Far Hast. He commissioned two young Chinese Christian 
priests, Fathers Ko and Tang, to take the tapestries, together 
with a collection of Sévres porcelain and twelve mirrors, to 
China. Under date of December 31, 1766, M. Bertin wrote to 
the two priests: ‘‘The intention of the King is that you make 
every effort that the tapestries from His Majesty’s factory, of 
which he made you the bearers, and which have remained in 
the magazines at Canton, should be presented to the Emperor 
of China, not as a gift from the King, but only to try to find 
out in this way what might be the Emperor’s taste regarding 
the productions of our tapestries and our arts.’’ 

Under date of November 10, 1767, Michel Benoist, Jesuit, 
Superior of the Residence of the French Mission at Pekin, 
wrote to France: ‘‘The Grand Master of the Palace avows 
that the Emperor was overwhelmed with admiration at sight 
of the six tapestries. He told me that His Majesty having had 
them placed under different points of view, and having admired’ 
them more and more as he examined carefully the delicacy of 
the work, at first thought of adorning with them the temples 
of his palace in which, here as elsewhere, are placed one’s 
most precious possessions. But having reflected that attached 


172 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


as we are to our holy religion we might be distressed when we 
learned that objects we had offered to His Majesty, His 
Majesty had used to decorate the temples of divinities that 
we do not recognize as. such, he gave orders to have his Kuro- 
pean palaces searched for apartments where one could place 
these tapestries. But no place being found in the European 
palaces, His Majesty gave orders for the construction of a 
new palace in which the proportion of the walls of his apart- 
ment should agree with the dimensions of the tapestries.’’ 


BOUCHER’S LOVES OF THE GODS 


The reputation established for Boucher by the Psyche 
set, was more than confirmed by the Loves of the Gods in 9 
pieces, which went on the looms in 1749. The earliest record 
that I find of a tapestry on this subject, is in Ovid’s Metamor- 
phoses, where Ovid describes the famous weaving contest 
between Arachne and Minerva. Arachne pictured the amor- 
ous weaknesses of the gods unblushingly (Page 15). Here was 
a subject made to Boucher’s heart and hand. In it he had a 
marvelous opportunity to revel in the rosy nudities that he 
made so attractive in tapestry. Init he had a marvelous oppor- 
tunity to show how much he had learned painting scenery for 
the Opera. Init he had a marvelous opportunity to work in his 
sketches of ruined Roman architecture brought back from 
Italy, and to utilize delicate foliage effects learned from the 
Chinese. The subjects of Boucher’s Loves of the Gods are: 
(1) Bacchus and Ariadne, (2) Pluto and Proserpine, (3) Nep- 
tune and Amymone, (4) Jupiter and Antiope, (5) Mars and 
Venus, (6) Boreas and Orithyia, (7) Jupiter and Europa, (8) 
Vulean and Venus, (9) Apollo and Clytie. 

Bacchus and Ariadne was the most popular tapestry 
designed by Boucher. [iverybody talked about it and every- 
body wanted it. According to the Beauvais records, it was 
woven seventeen times. The finest example in America is 


BEAUVAIS TAPESTRIES 173 


that belonging to Mrs. E. F. Hutton. It is fresh and unfaded 
as it came from the loom. It is if anything finer than the 
one in the Royal Italian collection, although the latter is 
impressive because of its extra length, Boucher having ex- 
tended the design on both sides to make it fit a larger space. 
Quite equal to the Royal Italian Bacchus and Ariadne is the 
one belonging to Mr. George F. Baker. Another duplicate 
of the Italian one, but less fresh, is that in the Metropolitan 
Museum of Art (Plate XI, e). 

Here we have the naturalistic style of Rococo at its best— 
animal life and plant life and architecture in harmony and 
melting into one another. The cupids next the columns seem 
almost to have been born from the marble. The trees seem 
almost to breathe in sympathetic appreciation of the romance. 
Bacchus and Ariadne and their companions seem so com- 
pletely children of Nature as to need none of the refinements of 
man-made civilization to protect them from the elements. The 
scene is the island of Naxos where Ariadne had been aban- 
doned by Theseus, whom she had assisted in his battle with 
the Minotaur, giving him the spool of thread that enabled 
him to retrace his way through the Daedalian labyrinth, and 
with whom she had eloped from her native Crete. Already 
the wooing of the wine god has banished from her the despair 
that impelled her to suicide. Still another brilliant Bacchus 
and Ariadne tapestry in America is the one belonging to Mr. C. 
Ledyard Blair, woven in charming combination with Jupiter 
and Antiope, and hence having a special splendor due to 
monumental size. Jupiter and Antiope (Plate XI, a) shows 
the wooing of the latter by Jupiter disguised as satyr. Mr. 
George F. Baker’s Jupiter and Antiope is almost as brilliant 
as his Ariadne. The Royal Italian collection at the Quirinal 
has fine examples of Mars and Venus (Plate XI, f), Boreas 
and Orithyia, and Jupiter and Antiope wrongly described as 
Psyche Dressing. Mars and Venus pictures the most notori- 


174 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


ous of ancient flirtations more modestly than does Sodoma in 
the Metropolitan Museum. Mr. George F. Baker has Boreas 
and Orithyia. Jupiter and Europa shows the king of the gods 
disguised as a white bull in order to escape the notice of his 
jealous wife, and deceive the maiden from whom the continent 
of Europe got its name. <A splendid example was No. 38 in 
the Cleveland Tapestry Exhibition of 1918, lent by Wildenstein 
& Co. and now in South America. Vulcan and Venus empha- 
sizes the contrast between the goddess of love and her rough 
and coarse husband on the occasion when in her dove-drawn 
chariot she visited him in quest of arms and armour for 
/Hineas, the son she had born to the Trojan Anchises. Asa 
companion piece to Bacchus and Ariadne, the Metropolitan 
Museum has a Vulcan and Venus of the same extended size. 
Apollo and Clytie introduces the water nymph whose love for 
the sun god was unreturned and who from sunrise to sunset 
kept her eyes fastened on him in his course, until her body 
took root in the ground, and her face became the sunflower 
turning (in the words of Thomas Moore) ‘‘on her god when 
he sets the same look that she turned when he rose.”’ 

The set of Opera Fragments in five pieces, one of which 
does not appear to have been woven, went on the looms in 
1752. In tapestry it recalls scenes designed by Boucher for 
the stage, among others the colour sketch for the opera of 
Issé exposed at the Salon in 1742. Issé was one of Apollo’s 
sweethearts, wooed by him as shepherd. The most popular 
of the set was Vertumnus and Pomona (Frontispiece in col- 
our of Hunter 1912) of which there is an inferior and faded 
example in the Altman collection at the Metropolitan Museum. 
Here we have Vertumnus, ancient Italian god of the seasons, 
transformed into an old woman in order to woo Pomona, 
ancient Italian goddess of fruit. Thanks to his disguise he 
is able to talk to her. freely and by telling her love stories 
that turned into tragedies because of the coldness. of the fair 


BEAUVAIS TAPESTRIES 175 


one, to stir her emotions until when he returns to his own 
youthful and manly form her avowed lover, she no longer 
resists but meets kiss with kiss. 


BOUCHER’S NOBLE PASTORALE 


Boucher hit the bull’s eye again with his Noble Pastorale in 
6 pieces, which, according to the Beauvais records, went on the 
looms in 1755. The subjects are: (1) Fountain of Love, (2) 
Flute Players, (3) Fishing, (4) Bird Catchers, (5) Luncheon, 
(6) Shepherdess. The last was unimportant and was woven 
only once. The Fountain of Love and Bird Catching were 
woven eleven times, Fishing and Luncheon ten times, and 
Flute Playing twelve times. There is a fine example of Bird 
Catchers in the Harry Payne Whitney collection. The 
Fountain of Love is in the collection of the late Senator Clark, 
as well as in that of Mrs. C. B. Alexander. 

Mr. H. E. Huntington has all of the set except the last. 
acquired from the Kann collection, and illustrated in the 
Kann catalogue (Paris, 1907). By far the most important 
pieces, because of the monumental size as well as the attrac- 
tiveness of the designs and the originality of the compositions 
are Fountain of Love, and Bird Catchers, the former being 19 
feet 5 inches wide, the latter 19 feet 3. Fishing is only 13 
feet wide, Flute Players 12 feet 4, Luncheon 11. All are 
typically Boucher with background of trees and ancient 
Roman sculpture and architectural ruins, and foreground of 
sheep and children and youthful lovers. The most prominent 
features of the different pieces are: (1) Fountain of Love, 
with fountain in the middle, foregrounded by children and 
a goat and sheep and a pair of lovers, flute-playing couple 
on the left backgrounded by a round squat tower and other 
buildings, loving couples on the right backgrounded by 
woods; (2) Flute Players, three loving couples on the right 
two of which play the flute, on the left a youthful shepherd 
looking on enviously, in the distance a squat round tower and 


176 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


other buildings; (3) Fishing, rods and baskets and scoop net, 
with a dog playfully biting the bare arm of the lover who is 
putting a fish into the bucket; (4) Bird Catchers, in the fore- 
ground youthful bird catchers with wooden cages, on the right 
what looks like a tennis net but is a net for catching birds, in 
the left background the Temple of Vesta and other Roman 
architecture and sculpture; (5) Luncheon, grapes. 

This was the last set of tapestries designed by Boucher for 
Beauvais. In accordance with instructions from the govern- 
ment, he devoted himself thereafter to the Gobelins. 

Other sets originated at Beauvais in the reign of Louis XV 
were Natoire’s Don Quixote in 1735, Homer’s Iliad by 
Deshayes in 1761, of which there are five in the Royal Spanish 
collection signed a.c.c. BEAUvaIS, Leprince’s Russian Sports 
in 1769, Casanova’s Country Pleasures in 1772. Nine 
of the Don Quixote set of ten, and four of the Russian Sports 
set of six, are in the Museum of Aix-en-Provence. Luncheon, 
one of the Russian Sports, was formerly in New York in the 
Alavoine collection. 


HUET-BOUCHER PASTORALS 


Although Boucher died in 1770, his work lived on, and in 
1780 the Pastorals of Jean Baptiste Huet, inspired by Boucher 
and closely related to some of his sketches and paintings, went 
on the looms at Beauvais. The subjects of the four most 
important of the ten pieces scheduled are: (1) Cherry Pickers, 
(Plate XI, fa), (2) Bird Nesters, (3) May Pole, (4) Swing. 
The late Mrs. George Gould had a set of these four. Mr. 
George I’. Baker has a similar set except that ‘‘Kite Flying’’ 
takes the place of ‘‘Bird Nesters.’’ These are the most attrac- 
tive tapestries originated at Beauvais in the reign of Louis 
XVI (1774-1792). 

The trouble with most Louis XVI tapestries is that they are 
weak and stupid. Among sets represented in America are 
Casanova’s Gypsies, and Military Scenes; Lavallée Poussin’s 


BEAUVAIS TAPESTRIES bie 


Conquest of the Indies, and Story of Alexander; Desoria’s 
Story of Achilles. 

The Conquest of the Indies in three pieces was woven only 
twice, once in 1785, and once in 1788. Fragments of the later 
set now serve as overdoor panels at Compiégne. The earlier 
set is still in perfect condition in the collection of Mr. Clarence 
H. Mackay. The subjects are: (1) Departure of Vasco da 
Gama, (2) Return of Vasco da Gama, (3) Vasco da Gama made 
Admiral of the Indies. Two of the Alexander set and two of 
the Achilles set (Plate XI, ga) are in the Jacques Seligmann 
collection. 





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PLATE XI, b.—AUDIENCE OF THE EMPEROR, ONE OF VERNANSAL’S CHINESE SET MADE AT BEAUVAIS IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF 
THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. P. W. FRENCH & CO. 


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PLATES XI, €, €&.—ABOVE, THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM’S “BACCHUS AND ARIADNE, ”’ 
ONE OF BOUCHER’S “LOVES OF THE GODS,” SIGNED OUDRY AND A. C. C. BEAUVAIS. 
BELOW, “PSYCHE DRESSING,’ ONE OF BOUCHER’S FAMOUS PSYCHE SET AT THE QUIRINAL 


ip Big OR iy ne Ds pir H. 


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PLATES xI, f, fa—oN THE LEFT, “MARS AND VENUS,” ONE OF BOUCHER’S FAMOUS “‘LOVES OF THE GODS,” AT THE QUIRINAL. 
ON THE RIGHT, ONE OF THE HUET-BOUCHER ‘‘PASTORALS’; DUVEEN BROS. 











PLATES XI, g, ga.—ABOVE, TEMPLE OF VENUS, ONE OF THE TELEMACHUS 
SET WOVEN AT BEAUVAIS EARLY IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY, WILLIAM 
BAUMGARTEN & CO. BELOW, ‘‘\CHILLES DISCOVERED,” DESIGN OF DESORIA, 
MADE AT BEAUVAIS IN SECTIONS IN 1792 OR 1793. JACQUES SELIGMANN & SON 





-enouepeieeseee 





PLATE XII, 4.—COWARDICE OF SANCHO PANZA, ONE OF MR. MACKAY’S FIVE “DON QUIXOTE” TAPESTRIES 
DESIGNED BY CHARLES COYPEL AND WOVEN AT THE GOBELINS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 


CHAPTER XII 
GOBELIN TAPESTRIES OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 


MONTHS OF LUCAS, PORTIERES OF THE GODS, DON QUIXOTE, OPERA 
FRAGMENTS, HUNTS OF LOUIS XV, ESTHER, GOBELIN-BOUCHERS 
PORTRAITS IN TAPESTRY 


Tur eighteenth century compares with the seventeenth as 
Spring does with Winter. Brightness displaces Solemnity, 
Individuality upsets Conformity, Grace supplants Dignity, 
Rubens and Lebrun yield to Watteau and Boucher. 

Wighteenth century reproductions and adaptations of 
Renaissance tapestries are usually preferable to those of the 
seventeenth. This superiority is marked in the Months of 
Lueas. The Louis XIV versions are heavy and awkward and 
crude, as compared with those of Louis XV. Those of 
Louis XV, especially those woven in Michel Audran’s high- 
warp shop, are immeasureably superior not only to Months 
of Lucas of the seventeenth century but also to all that have 
survived from the sixteenth century. The new borders, and 
the remodeling and refining of the designs by eighteenth cen- 
tury Gobelin cartoonists, transformed the spirit of the Months 
of Lucas from Flemish Renaissance to French Rococo, and 
while obscuring and sometimes confusing some of the original 
costume details, uniformly substituted good drawing for bad, 
and exquisiteness for rawness of colouration. The finest set 
is that made by Audran, for Alexander, Count of Toulouse 
(1678-1737), ten of which are now in the collection of Mr. 
Rockefeller, (Plates XII, b, ¢, d); the other two, February 
and June, in the French Embassy at Leningrad (Page 360 of 
y. II of Fenaille Gobelins). This is the same Count of Tou- 
louse for whom tapestries had been made at Beauvais by 

179 


180 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


Béhagle (Chapter XI). His initial A appears in the four 
corners of the tapestries; his coat-of-arms, the three Bourbon 
fleurs-de-lis with bar sinister, in the middle of the top borders; 
and the zodiacal sign of the month, in the middle of the bottom 
border. The flowers of the border designed by Perrot are 
of extraordinary excellence as regards both design and weave. 

The couple that appear three times in January (Plate 
XII, b) are the Emperor Charles V and his wife Isabella of 
Portugal (Consult Chapter VIII). The two-headed eagle of 
the Empire will be noted in the floor tiles. 

The subjects of the set are: 


I. March, the Ram. Fishing and Gardening. 
If. April, the Bull. Musie and Boating. 
III. May, the Twins. Archery. 
IV. June, the Crab. Sheepshearing. 
V. July, the Lion. Hunting with Faleon. 
VI. August, the Virgin. Reaping. 
VII. September, the Scales. Stag Hunt. 
VIII. October, the Scorpion. Vintage. 
IX. November, the Archer. Sowing. 
X. December, the Goat. Skating. 
XI. January, the Water Carrier. Dancing. 
XII. February, the Fish. Indoor Games. 


Other eighteenth century Gobelin Months of Lueas still 
in existence are the set by Audran and Monmerqué in the 
Royal Palace at Dresden, the set by Monmerqué and Cozette 
in the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the set by Lefebvre 
at Pau and in the Garde Meuble. Mrs. F. F. Prentiss has 
June, one of the three Months of Lucas signed by Audran 
which were formerly in the Ffoulke collection. May and 
December, the latter signed cozerrTeE, are in the Palazzo Doria 
at Rome. April and June are on exhibition at the Louvre. 

The New Indies that went on the looms in 1740, was the 
Louis XIV Indies modified and repainted by Desportes, who 
introduced many Huropean animals and plants. There are 


TAPESTRIES OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 181 


sets in the National Austrian collection, and at the Quirinal, 
both signed neitson (Plate XII, e). The Duke of Alba has 
four of the set signed cozrrre 1789. 


CLAUDE AUDRAN’S PORTIERES OF THE GODS 


The Portiéres of the Gods that went on the looms in the 
year of 1700, marked the beginning of a new era. Though 
inspired by the Louis XIV Triumphs of the Gods and Gro- 
tesque Months, there is nothing Baroque about them and little 
that is Italian. The designer Claude Audran, one of the 
masters of Watteau, produced compositions that are delight- 
fully original, and thoroughly French. The subjects are: (1) 
Venus for Spring, (2) Ceres for Summer, (Plate XII, f) (3) 
Bacchus for Autumn, (4) Saturn for Winter, (5) Juno for 
Air, (6) Diana for Earth, (7) Neptune for Water, (8) Jupiter 
for Fire—the Four Seasons and the Four Elements. Sena- 
tor Clark had a splendid set of the Elements, and there are 
individual pieces in other American collections. There are 
many in the National French collection, and others at the 
Quirinal, at Windsor Castle, and in the collection of the Duke 
of Richmond. In the same style, and almost as attractive, 
are Claude Audran’s Twelve Grotesque Months, woven pilas- 
ters usually made in groups of three. There are complete sets 
in the Bischoffsheim collection, and in the Venetian palace of 
Prince Giovanelli. There are nine of the months, each framed 
separately, at the Palazzo Doria in Rome. A fascinating 
eighteenth century tapestry portiére is the Diana, with small 
medallion, designed by Perrot. 


COYPEL’S DON QUIXOTE 


The most important series of tapestries originated at the 
Gobelins in the eighteenth century, are the twenty-eight 
designed by Charles Coypel to illustrate Cervantes’ story 
of Don Quixote (Plate XII, a). They are so highly prized 
in Europe that few have been allowed to cross the Atlantic. 


182 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


Among European collections listed by M. Fenaille as con- 
taining tapestries from the series are: Marquis de Venneville, 
eleven; Royal Italian collection, twenty-one; Count d’Argen- 
son, five; Empress Eugénie, seven; Duke of Richmond, four; 
Duke of Portland, eight; Anitchkoff Palace at Leningrad, 
four; Marquis de Vogiié, six; Royal Swedish collection, four; 
Royal Palace in Berlin, six; Palace of the Archduke Ferdinand 
in Vienna, four; with most of all, of course, in the National 
French collection. 

The series was never woven as a complete set, but always 
in small groups selected according to the taste of the pur- 
chaser, or the convenience of the giver, who was in almost 
every case the King of France. To quote the words of the 
Director of the Gobelins, under date of October 22, 1752: ‘‘One 
advantage of this series of hangings is that it can be sepa- 
rated into as many or as few pieces as desired, and is con- 
sequently more convenient for the King to present to Princes 
or Ambassadors.’’ 

While the Old Testament and Iliad sets, completed by 
Charles Coypel but largely the creation of his father Antoine 
Coypel, were rather old-fashioned, there was nothing old- 
fashioned about the Don Quixote series. They were eigh- 
teenth century Rococo in every detail as well as in general 
plan and composition, without the slightest suggestion of 
Renaissance or Baroque. They set the fashion of small-pic- 
ture-on-large-decorative-background (Plate XII, a) which was 
imitated later in the Gobelin-Boucher medallion tapestries. 
The painting of the twenty-eight small pictures occupied much 
of Coypel’s life, the first being completed by him in 1714, 
the last in 1751. Of the elaborate backgrounds (alentours), 
with double frame, and with two-tone yellow or crimson, 
mosaic or leafy mat, there was a succession of six designed 
under the supervision of Coypel by Fontenay, Claude Audran, 
Desportes and Tessier. The peacock, dogs, monkeys and 
sheep were by Desportes, The exquisite flowers of the later 


TAPESTRIES OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 183 


backgrounds were by Louis Tessier, who has never been sur- 
passed for work of this kind. 

The coloured frontispiece of this chapter illustrates one 
of Mr. Mackay’s Don Quixote set of five. The subject as 
woven on the blue panel at the bottom is the Cowardice of 
Sancho Panza (POLTRONNERIE DE SANCHO A LA CHASSE). The 
scene is a lively one. In the foreground Don Quixote, in 
armor, sustains with his sword the attack of the wild boar 
whom the dogs worry and two other hunters pierce with 
spears. On the left the frightened Sancho Panza climbs a 
tree. In the background the Duke and Duchess with two of 
their attendants. The mat part of the alentour is a two-tone 
golden mosaic adorned with festoons of richly coloured flowers. 
Inside and outside the mat, woven gilt frames. In the cor- 
ners of the outer frame, the monogram of the King. Perched 
on top of the inner frame a splendid peacock. Below the 
inner frame, a gladiator in a lunette held by a lion mask. On 
both sides of the lunette, flowers and flags and books and armor 
and dogs and sheep. The others of Mr. Mackay’s set are: 
(2) Don Quixote made Knight by the Landlord of the Inn, . 
signed cozetrz, 1764; (3) Entrance of Sancho into the Island 
of Barataria, signed aupran, 1757; (4) The False Princess 
Micomicon comes and asks Don Quixote to Restore her to the 
Throne, no signature; (5) Don Quixote in Barcelona dances 
at the Ball given him by Don Antonio, signed cozerrn, 1778. 

A set of five formerly on exhibition at the Metropolitan 
Museum as part of the Morgan collection, is that of Mrs. Dixon, 
with leafy crimson mats. It came to the Morgan collection 
from the King of Spain’s grandfather, Don Francisco de 
Assisi. Four of the tapestries originally belonged to the 
Archbishop of Reims, presented to him in 1774 by Louis 
XVI, who had been baptised by him, confirmed by him, mar- 
ried by him, and in 1775 crowned by him at Reims. Two 
years after the coronation, the Cardinal died at the age of 
eighty, and the furnishings of his home were sold in Paris. 


184 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


The fifth of the set originally belonged to the Duke of Hesse- 
Darmstadt, presented to him by the Emperor Napoleon in 
1810. This is the only one of the five that was woven on a 
low-warp loom. 

DON QUIXOTE’S FIRST EXPEDITION 


The first of Mrs. Dixon’s set is Don Quixote guided by 
Folly. It is signed nemson Ex. 1783. Don Quixote is pic- 
tured sallying forth on his first expedition in search of heroic 
adventure. He is equipped in a full suit of armor, and mounted 
on his scrawny steed Rozinante. Folly, wearing the barber’s 
basin as helmet, points to a distant windmill, which, to the 
distempered imagination of the knight, appears a monstrous 
giant armed with huge club and terrific scimitar. Cupid, the 
God of Love, directs Don Quixote’s attention to Dulcinea del 
Toboso, a coarse country wench whom Don Quixote’s fancy 
has invested with the attributes of a high-born and beautiful 
damsel. As Don Quixote phrased it for his future biographer: 
‘‘Searcely had ruddy Phoebus spread over the face of the spa- 
cious earth the golden tresses of his lovely hair; scarcely had 
the painted little choristers with forked tongues. begun in soft 
and melodious harmony to hail the approach of the blushing 
Aurora, who deserting the soft couch of the jealous husband, 
had just disclosed herself to mortal eyes through the portals 
of the Manchegan horizon; when the renowned Don Quixote 
disdaining soft repose, mounted his famous steed Rozinante, 
and proceeded over the ancient plain of Montiel.” 

Mrs. Dixon’s other Gobelin Don Quixote tapestries are: 
(2) Don Quixote misled by Sancho, mistakes a Peasant Girl 
for his Dulcinea, signed cozerrn, 1773; (3) Don Quixote 
through Sancho asks permission of the Princess to address her, 
signed cozzerTE, 1773; (4) Don Quixote served by the Ladies, 
siened cozErtE, 1773; (5) Sancho’s Departure for the Island of 
Barataria, signed aupran, 1773. Don Quixote, not at all dis- 
couraged by the mistake in Tapestry 2, proceeds in Tapestry 3 


TAPESTRIES OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY = 185 


to pay his respects through Sancho to a richly-dressed lady 
mounted on a milk-white palfrey, whom one evening near 
sunset as he issued from a forest, he beheld in the distance 
among a group of ladies and gentlemen engaged in hawking. 
Oddly enough, the lady this time turned out to be of high 
rank, in fact a real Duchess, and mistress of the hunting party. 
The Duchess and the Duke her husband quickly grasped the 
situation, and planned to make sport of the crazy knight and 
his simple squire. They conducted them with much cere- 
mony to the Duke’s castle, where Don Quixote was treated with 
extraordinary deference, supplied with rich robes, and waited 
upon by the Duchess’ ladies (Tapestry 4). Finally the Duke 
and Duchess, delighted with their success in hoodwinking the 
knight, decided to practice on his squire. They pretended 
to bestow upon him the governorship of the island Barataria. 
Wild with joy Sancho took leave of his benefactors and of his 
former master, and set forth for his government, dressed like 
a professor of the law, wearing over his other clothes a loose 
gown of grave-coloured camlet, and a cap of the same mate- 
rial (Tapestry 5). 
COYPEL’S OPERA FRAGMENTS 


Other sets designed by Charles Coypel are Opera Frag- 
ments and Stage Scenes, the former in four pieces, the latter 
in five. The first of the Opera Fragments, Angelica’s Mar- 
riage, pictures a scene from Quinault’s opera Roland, and is 
charming. Cut on a tree at the right is the inscription: 
** Angelica pledges her heart. Médor has conquered tt. How 
happy is Médor. Angelica has crowned his vows.’’ Through 
an archway on the left, is seen the wedding feast. In the 
middle foreground, Roland learns of Angelica’s infidelity and 
flight with Médor. This tapestry can be seen at Compiéegne, 
and there is another in the Royal Swedish collection. There 
was formerly one in America. The other three subjects of 
Opera Fragments are all from Quinault’s opera Armide. The 


186 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


subjects of Stage Scenes are from (1) Moliére’s ballet Psyche, 
(2) Racine’s Bajazet, (3) Corneille’s Rodogune (4) Quinault’s 
Aleeste, (5) Racine’s Athalie. The title of the first is 
Psyche abandoned by Cupid. Later, a companion Psyche 
piece was designed by Belle ‘‘in the style of Coypel.’’ 

Sets originated near the end of the reign of Louis XIV are 
Jouvenet and Restout’s rather old-fashioned New Testament, 
and the Metamorphoses by several painters. ‘T'’he most inter- 
esting of the Metamorphoses are Louis de Boulogne’s Renaud 
et Armide, Diana’s Return from the Hunt by Delafosse, Bac- 
ehus and Ariadne, Zephyrus and Flora, Narcissus. Among 
pieces listed by M. Fenaille were four in the collection of 
Don Francisco d’Assisi, and four in the Paris collection of 
Mrs. Louis Stern. 


OUDRY’S HUNTS OF LOUIS XV 


Oudry’s success at Beauvais (Chapter XI) brought him 
into the limelight. In 1733 he was appointed Head Inspector 
of the Gobelins, and was commissioned to design the Hunts 
of Louis XV (Plate XII, ea) to be executed at the Gobelins. 
Only two sets were woven, one of which is in the Royal Italian 
collection at Florence, the other in the Garde Meuble. The 
latter was shown in the French Hunting Exhibition at the 
Musée des Arts Décoratifs in 1923. The subjects are: (1) 
The Rendezvous at Puys du Roi. (2) The Death of the Stag 
in the Ponds of Saint Jean. (3) Hunting the Stag within 
sight of Compiégne. (4) The Stag turning on the Dogs at 
the Rocks of Franchart, in the Forest of Fontainebleau. (5) 
The King holding the Limer. (6) The Relay. (7) The Pack 
on the way to the Rendezvous. (8) The Curée. (9) The Forhu. 
The height of the set is 11 feet 6 inches. No. 1 is 19% feet long; 
No. 2, 161% feet; No. 3, 2614 feet; No. 8, 22 feet; the others, 
all small. All the tapestries are signed 3. B. oupRy with the 
year that dates the cartoon. The scene of No. 1 is an open circle 
where several heavily wooded avenues meet. In the back- 


TAPESTRIES OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 187 


ground the pack. In the foreground, that great hunter, the 
Count of Toulouse, son of Louis XIV, mounted and hat in hand, 
reports to the King who has just alighted from his six-horse 
caléche, and is having his boots put on. In No. 3 the stag 
crosses the Oise within sight of Compiégne, leaving the water 
just at the right of the horse-drawn water-coach, which is 
crowded inside and above with spectators. In the high fore- 
ground on this side of the river, the King and other noble 
huntsmen with dogs. In No. 8 the dogs receive their quarry 
(curée). In No. 9 the Hunt ends with the Recall (forhu). 
This set of nine tapestries, though faded, still pictures 
vividly stag hunting’ as practised at Compiégne by the Court 
of Louis XV. Only one of the scenes is. located at Fontaine- 
bleau. As might be expected of Oudry, the animals are splen- 
did, the personages passable, the landscapes interesting. 


DE TROY’S ESTHER 


A Bible story skilfully handled and richly costumed is De 
Troy’s Esther in seven pieces. Another set by De Troy, 
also in seven pieces, illustrates the Story of Jason as 
told in Ovid’s ‘‘Metamorphoses.’’ Of two Turkish sets, 
one was by Parrocel, the other by Vanloo. Parrocel’s Turk- 
ish Embassy, which was begun with the title ‘‘ New Story of the 
King,’’ by contrast with the ‘‘Story of the King’’ of Louis 
XIV, consists of only two pieces, the Turkish Ambassador 
entering the Garden of the Tuileries, and the Turkish Ambas- 
sador leaving the Garden of the Tuileries. Vanloo’s Turkish 
Costumes, developed from his painting's for the bedchamber of 
Madame de Pompadour at Bellevue, shows (1) Sultana at 
Luncheon, (2) Sultana Dressing (3) Sultana’s Sewing Room 
(4) Odalisques dancing before Sultan. Nos. 2 and 3 are at the 
Louvre, and the corresponding full-size cartoons are at Com- 
piegne. Of Vanloo’s Theseus, planned for seven pieces, the 
only piece executed was ‘‘Theseus conquers the Bull of Mara- 
thon,’’ of which there are two examples in Paris and one in 


188 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


the Royal Swedish collection. The Story of Daphnis and 
Chloe was the subject of two Louis XV sets; the first in four 
pieces, after Philip of Orleans, Regent of France; the second, 
in seven pieces, after Jeaurat. Three of the Jeaurat set were 
sold at the Havemeyer sale in 1914. There was formerly one 
of Natoire’s Antony and Cleopatra set at Sherry’s. One of 
Jeaurat’s Fétes de Village, was No. 35 in the catalogue of the 
Cleveland Tapestry Exhibition, 1918. It was 9 feet 4 by 18 
feet 9, and showed on the left a recruiting sergeant busy at his 
task, and on the right a market with buildings and peddlers, 
girls dancing, children at the wheel of fortune, and a quack 
doctor holding up a printed placard. 


GOBELIN BOUCHERS 


Francois Boucher as the most brilliant and successful tap- 
estry designer of the eighteenth century. No one appreciated 
this more than Audran, Cozette, and Neilson, shop proprietors 
at the Gobelins. In 1754 they submitted a memorial to the 
administration stating that ‘‘to prevent the decadence of the 
Gobelin Factory, it would be necessary to attach to it Sr. 
Boucher,’’ and that ‘‘for nearly twenty years the Beauvais 
Factory has been kept up by the attractive paintings made for 
it by Sr. Boucher.’’ The administration listened, and the next 
year when Oudry died, appointed Boucher his successor as 
Head Inspector of the Gobelins. ‘‘M. Boucher,’’ wrote the 
administration to the three Gobelin shop proprietors, ‘‘not 
only has refused the inspection of the Beauvais factory with 
the intention of giving his attention to the Gobelins, but he has 
even refused an interest that the Beauvais directors wished to 
give him in their enterprise.’’ 

Already Boucher had designed for Madame Pompadour, to 
be executed at the Gobelins, the Rising of the Sun and the 
Setting of the Sun, the paintings of which are in the Wallace 
collection, while the one set of tapestries made from the paint- 


TAPESTRIES OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 189 


ings was sold in England after Madame de Pompadour’s death, 
and cannot be located. 

For the Loves of the Gods, a series of twenty-two by dif- 
ferent painters, Boucher designed three tapestries: Venus 
and Vulcan, Cupids, Génies des Arts. There is a Génies des 
Arts in the Jacques Seligmann collection and a Venus and 
Vulcan in the Museum of the Gobelins. The other pieces of 
the set, some of which are attractive, are: Neptune and Amy- 
mone, by Vanloo; Jupiter and Europa, by Pierre; Pluto and 
Proserpine, by Vien; Cupids, by Vanloo; two Cupids, by 
Pierre; two Cupids, by Vien; Génies des Sciences, by Hallé; 
Mercury and Herse, by Pierre; Hippomenes and Atalanta, 
by Hallé; Corésus and Callirhoé, by Fragonard; Achilles 
Recognized, by Hallé; Silenus and Eglé, by Hallé; Triumph 
of Amphitrite, by Taraval; Bacchus and Ariadne, Jupiter and 
Leda, Clytie and Apollo, all three by Belle; Feast of Bacchus 
(Autumn), by Lagrenée. 

Fifteen out of the twenty Gobelin Bouchers (all except the 
three Loves of the Gods, and the Rising and the Setting of the 
Sun just mentioned) were medallion tapestries like Coypel’s 
Don Quixote set, with small pictures backgrounded by large 
decorative alentours (Plate XII, h). They are charming and 
marvelously decorative. England has more than its share, 
owing to the policy of the French government that officially 
encouraged the taking of orders in England by Neilson. Four 
of the fifteen picture scenes from the Story of Amintas and 
Sylvia: (1) Sylvia Freed by Amintas (left medallion of Plate 
XII, h). (2) Sylvia cures Phyllis of a Bee sting; (3) Love 
revives Amintas in the arms of Sylvia; (4) Sylvia flees from 
the wounded Wolf (right medallion of Plate XII, h). The 
other eleven are: (5) Vertumnus, and Pomona; (6) Aurora 
and Cephalus (Plate XII, ¢); (7) Neptune and Amymone; (8) 
Venus and Vulcan; (9) Venus rising from the waters; 
(10) Fishing; (11) Fortune Teller; (12) Jupiter and Cal- 


190 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


listo; (13) Psyche looking at Cupid asleep; (14, 15) small 
Cupid medallions. 

Among pieces listed by Fenaille as in England are: Nos. 
d, 6, 7, 8, at Croome Court; Nos. 5, 6, 7, 9, at Newby Hall; 
Nos. 5, 6, 7, 9, at Weston Park; Nos. 10, 11, Aske Hall; Nos. 
O, 6, 8, 13, 14, 15, at Osterly Park; Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 11, at Welbeck 
Abbey in the collection of the Duke of Portland. Many of 
these were made with two medallions on one tapestry (Plate 
XIT, h), and with supplementary small panels and furniture 
coverings. All of them were woven by Neilson on his improved 
low-warp looms. The Aske Hall pieces have stone-grey 
damassé ground, the Newby Hall ones mauve damassé ground, 
all the others crimson damassé ground. There is in the 
French Ministry of Marine a two-medallion piece on crimson 
damassé ground, made on high-warp loom by the younger 
Cozette in 1791; and in the Palais Bourbon three pieces on 
yellow ground, Nos. 5 and 6 one piece, Nos. 9 and 13 separ- 
ately. Made by Neilson on crimson damassé ground were: 
Nos. 5, 6, 9, 13, at the Louvre; Nos. 5, 6) 8) 9 12s 
the Pavlosk Palace near Leningrad; No. 7 at the Berlin 
Kunstgewerbe Museum. 

Sometimes the pictures were woven without alentours, as 
was the case with a set of ten for MM. Roux and Lam- 
bert, of Lyons, in 1779; and with Nos. 10 and 11 in the Bordeaux 
Bourse, each 4 feet by 4 feet 7, and signed Cozmrrz, 1772. 
Staiestites they were woven separately to be inserted later 
(Fenaille Gobelins III, 267; IV, 294). | 

After the death of Bonner Jacques made a new alentour, 
without the inside frame, and with the figure group of Boucher 
placed on a platform beneath a festooned canopy. The only 
known set, that in the Groult collection at Paris, includes Nos. 
DAO. 0s Oe 

Vincent’s Story of Henri IV which can be seen at Pau, and 
the Story of France by different painters, were originated in 
the latter half of the reign of Louis XVI. They are weak in 


TAPESTRIES OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 191 


design and inferior in weave. Callet’s Four Seasons and 
Suvee’s Feast of Pallas, though exaggeratedly neo-classic, 
shine by contrast. 

PORTRAITS IN TAPESTRY 


The eighteenth century had the bad taste to like isolated 
portraits in tapestry. Among those that have been preserved 
are Vanloo’s Louis XV, Nattier’s Marie Leczinska, Vanloo’s 
Dauphin (later Louis XVI), Drouais’ Marie Antoinette, all 
woven by Cozette and now in the Bordeaux Chamber of Com- 
merce; Ducreux’s Emperor Francis I, and Ducreux’s Maria 
Theresa, woven by Cozette, at Versailles. The eighteenth 
century also had the bad taste to like small tapestries, and 
tapestries copied from easel paintings (Plate XVI, a, aa). 
Be it here recorded that the very qualities which make tap- 
estry texture more effective than painting for the produc- 
tion of monumental pictures, tend to throw it out of scale for 
small work. 


14 








OF LUCAS 


S GOBELIN MONTHS 


KEFELLER’ 


ROC 


—JANUARY. ONE OF MR. 


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b 


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PLATE XII 


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= 2 
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3 eeaeaamiege. S, 





OF LUCAS 


S MONTHS 


ROCKEFELLER’ 


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PLATE XII 


ONE OF MR. ROCKEFELLER’S GOBELIN MONTHS OF LUCAS 


TOBER. 


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PLATE XII 





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4HL NO YANDISAC AHL AM GANDIS ‘AX SINOT AO SLNOH,, NITHHOD AHL JO ANO ‘LHDIN GHL NO ‘CLI ‘xa NOS'TIIGN 
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hdd al 
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PLATE XII, g.—AURORA AND CEPHALUS, DETAIL OF ONE OF THE DUKE 
GOBELIN BOUCHERS 





OF ALBA’S 


ie 
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PLATE XII, 


ae 


Reameaae 


h.—GOBELIN-BOUCHER TAPESTRY, SIGNED BY THE WEAVER NEILSON EX. 1783, WITH TWO MEDALLIONS FROM 
THE STORY OF ‘‘AMINTAS AND SYLVIA”. DUKE OF PORTLAND 





PLATE XIII, &.—TRIUMPH OF CUPID, A LOUIS XVI AUBUSSON TAPESTRY CARTOONED 
WITH BOUCHER, FRAGONARD AND TESSIER IN MIND. P. W. FRENCH & co. 


CHAPTER XIIT 
AUBUSSON TAPESTRIES 


STRONG BLACKS, DAZZLING WHITES, LOOSE TEXTURE, SMALL SIZE 
DUMONS, JULIARD, OUDRY, BOUCHER, LANCRET, HUET, REIMS 
LILLE, NANCY 


Tue large number of ancient Aubusson tapestries in Amer- 
ica has compelled me to develop this chapter at considerable 
length. My generalizations are based on Aubusson tapestries 
with which I am personally acquainted, and of which I have 
here given the exact location. 

The historian of Aubusson tapestries was Monsieur 
Cyprien Pérathon. In the year-books of the Société des 
Beaux-Arts des Départments de la France, he published an 
iconography of ancient Aubusson tapestries, lists of Aubusson 
and Felletin weavers, special articles on Aubusson painters 
and inspectors and much other invaluable raw material, but 
without evolving order out of the chaos. 

This chapter of mine is the first attempt to sketch the 
development of Aubusson tapestries, and to show how at dif- 
ferent periods they differ from one another and from the tap- 
estries of the Gobelins, Brussels, Oudenarde, and Beauvais. 

Aubusson is a charming little city, delightfully situated in 
the mountains of Auvergne, 207 miles by rail south of Paris. 
It has long been famous for the production of inexpensive tap- 
estries. The adjacent village of Felletin, which, to judge by 
the inventories of the sixteenth century, was first to develop 
the industry, trailed Aubusson in the seventeenth, and began 
to specialize on coarse verdures, leaving the more important 
sets with personages to Aubusson. An exception to the rule 
appears to have been the Felletin set of Illustrious Women; 
with gold, in six pieces, purchased by the Company of the 
Indies. in 1670, to send to the Far Hast. 

193 


194 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


A distinguishing feature of ancient Aubusson tapestries 
are the dazzling whites and the loose texture (Plates XIII, a, 
b). Also, the seventeenth century and early eighteenth Aubus- 
son tapestries resemble those of Oudenarde in being too black 
(Plate XIII, ba). Possibly, even probably, this may have 
been due to a migration of Protestant weavers from Ouden- 
arde to Aubusson, consequent upon the religious troubles of 
the Netherlands in the last half of the sixteenth century. But 
the contrasting whites of Aubusson tapestries of this period 
are distributed over larger surfaces than those of Oudenarde, 
and forced by hatchings into less abrupt and more effec- 
tive contrast. 

MADE IN I619 


In the archepiscopal palace at Reims there are four badly 
damaged pieces of tapestry ordered at Paris in 1619 from 
Gilbert Lombard, dealer, of Aubusson, and delivered in 1625. 
The field is in yellow fleurs-de-lis on blue, with picture medal- 
lion in the middle. The borders are of medium width, with 
white ground on which clusters of green foliage alternate with 
medallions some of which carry the arms of the Cathedral 
Chapter of Reims. The one of the tapestries illustrated on 
Plate 59 of Sartor Reims, with bottom border missing, is 14 
feet high by 1814 feet long. The medallion carries the Assump- 
tion of the Virgin, standing on the heads of cherubs and borne 
aloft by four angels. In the choir of Notre Dame de Nantilly 
at Saumur is a Story of the Virgin, in 4 pieces and 8 scenes, 
dated 1619, very rough and crude, and as the inscription states, 
made at the expense of the parish. 

The Cathedral of Angers has two pieces 4 feet 9 inches 
high, in 8 scenes, with united length of 49 feet, picturing the 
Story of Saint Saturnin, Archbishop of Toulouse, dated 1649 
on two of the long French inscriptions in Roman capital let- 
ters. They were ordered by the Church of Saint-Mimbouf, 
of which they bear the arms as well as those of two donors. 


AUBUSSON TAPESTRIES 195 


The order was placed with René Jouaneau, tapestry dealer of 
Reims, and with Francois Pelerier, of Aubusson. ‘These two 
tapestries are of poor design and faded. 

The Tournon Lyceum has three pieces of a Life of Christ 
set, with wide borders that are more floral and less architec- 
tural than those of the Early Gobelins and contemporary 
Brussels. These resemble the ‘‘ Jesus washing the Feet of the 
Apostles,’’ at the Gobelins, which has lost all of its border 
except the inside moulding. The city hall of Vallon (Ardéche) 
has a set of Tasso’s Jerusalem Delivered, in seven pieces, one 
of them signed poriiac auBUsson made about 1658. The bor- 
ders are wide, with heavy moulding inside, and with a string of 
flowers twisting spirally around a pole in the field, which con- 
tinued to be the favorite border motif at Aubusson for more 
than a century. While the contrast between the whites and 
blacks is strong, and the whites of the eyes are over-accentu- 
ated, as is common in Aubusson tapestries of the seventeenth 
century and later, the faces and forms and backgrounds are 
well composed, and the general effect is decidedly attractive. 

Ags at the Early Gobelins, so at Aubusson, the Raphael- 
esque Psyche designs engraved by Agostino Veneziano were a 
favorite source. One of these, based upon the Betrothal of 
Psyche’s Sisters, is in the collection of French & Co. The 
scene has been redrawn and amplified in the style of the seven- 
teenth century. The number of personages has been increased 
from six to eleven. ‘The burning brazier and the rich presents 
in the foreground have been added. Seated on the throne are 
Psyche’s father and mother, both crowned. On the left, an 
Oriental king sues for the hand of the one of Psyche’s sisters 
who stands by the father. On the right stands Psyche’s other 
sister holding the hand of the king who has won her. Both 
sisters are provided for, but Psyche in the background is neg- 
lected. The goddess Venus, jealous of Psyche’s extraordi- 
nary beauty, has put a curse upon her which seems to doom her 
to become an ‘‘old maid.”’ 


196 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


ALEXANDER AND JOAN OF ARC 


When the Gobelins was reorganized in 1662, and the Beau- 
vais factory established in 1664, plans were made to promote 
the industry also at Aubusson. The plans seem never to have 
been executed, although some artistic assistance was rendered 
in the form of full-size cartoons from the Gobelins, notably 
those of Lebrun’s Elements. However, the designs of Lebrun 
that appealed most to Aubusson’s customers were those of the 
Story of Alexander, which in abbreviated form was woven 
there over and over again, most frequently of all the Entry into 
Babylon of which many examples survive. The Musée 
des Arts Décoratifs has a small Alexander tapestry signed 
DAVBUSSON. RAYNAVD, With modern bottom border. This tap- 
estry duplicates the right end of the Cleveland Museum’s 
Entry into Babylon (Plate XIII, ba). Influenced by Lebrun’s 
Alexander set was the designer of a set of Joan of Arc tapes- 
tries, based on Jean Chaplain’s ‘‘La Pucelle, ou la France 
delivrée,’’ published in 1656, with illustrations by A. Bosse, 
engraved by C. Vignon. Three of the set displayed in Notre 
Dame on May 14, 1922, at the services commemorating the 
Deliverance of France by the Maid of Orleans, were sold at 
the American Art Galleries on November 17 of the same year. 
Tn the first, Joan of Arc in full armor appeals to King Charles 
VII whose broken sceptre lies on the ground beside him. In 
the distance, soldiers and the city of Orleans. In the 
sky above, a winged figure of France holding a medallion 
that bears the title of the book. In another of the tapestries, 
Joan stands alone with background of fleurs-de-lis and forest. 
In the third, Charles VII, in armor and victorious, sees in a 
vision the martyred shepherdess. The tapestries are only 9 
feet 2 inches high, with combined width of 22 feet 6. This 
calls attention to the fact that most Aubusson tapestries of the 
eighteenth and of the late seventeenth centuries are dis- 
tinguished from those of the Gobelins and Beauvais by their 


AUBUSSON 'TAPESTRIES 197 


small size. The height of those made for private purchasers 
and for stock ranges from 7 to 91 feet. 

Kighteenth century Aubussons at Angers are: a small Res- 
urrection; a Marriage of Cana 714 by 17 feet; a small Moses 
tapestry ; a Last Supper 71% by 17 feet; a John the Baptist, in 
six scenes, 914 by 55 feet, with colours still bright and fresh, 
signed P. GRELLET; a Saint John the HXvangelist in two scenes; 
a Story of Joseph in four scenes, 734 feet by 43; a Nativity, 
after Jouvenet, signed m.R.p.B. All are crude. 


THE BEST PERIOD 


Aubusson was greatly injured by the Revocation of the 
Kidict of Nantes in 1685, as many of the best weavers were 
Protestants and left the country because it did not seem safe 
to stay: One of the best known of the emigrés is Pierre 
Mercier who located in Berlin (Chapter XIV). Aubusson 
also suffered more than its share during the hard times that 
prevailed in France in the last decade of the seventeenth 
century, even the Gobelins being shut down for lack of 
money in the royal treasury. Finally, in 1731, the govern- 
ment intervened positively and successfully. A dyer from 
the Gobelins was sent to Aubusson to reorganize the dyeing 
there, and a painter was appointed to superintend the produc- 
tion of new designs, and to spend at least three months of every 
two yearsin Aubusson. The first of the painters was Dumons, 
(1731-1755) ; the second, Juliard (1755-1780), who was suc- 
ceeded by Ranson. Dumons and Juliard did splendid work. 
They not only painted cartoons themselves, but called in other 
painters to assist, notably Huet in the period of Louis XVI, 
and used freely all the suitable sketches and engravings that 
could be acquired inexpensively. As a result of their efforts, 
the best period of tapestry weaving in Aubusson is from 1740 
to 1790. The ugly blacks disappear, leaving a rather agree- 
able dominance of whites and creams, enlivened by rosy reds. 
The coarse, loose texture, much cheaper to produce than that 


198 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


of the fine cloths of the Gobelins and Beauvais, is agreeable to 
the eye, and saves Louis XVI Aubussons from the paint-like 
flatness and hardness that began to be common elsewhere. 


OUDRY 


Almost as important in the regeneration of Aubusson as 
he had been in the regeneration of Beauvais, was Oudry 
whose Lafontaine designs were copied freely in both wall 
panels and furniture coverings. Furthermore, in 1761, the 
government sent the full-size cartoons of Oudry’s Amuse- 
ments Champétres, Comedies of Moliére, and Ovid’s Meta- 
morphoses, to Aubusson. By this time the Comedies of Moliére 
must have been out of line with popular taste. At any rate 
I have never seen any Aubusson reproductions of them. But 
with the Metamorphoses it was different. Oudry’s animal 
designs will never grow tame or old, and his very original 
versions of the Metamorphoses picture the scenes all animals 
and no humans. The Palace of Circe, (Plate XIII, c) shows 
a stately interior with the throne and wand of Circe and with 
monkey, parrot, tiger, bear, gazelle, and the boar into which 
one of Ulysses’ companions has been transformed, but no 
personages. The Descent of Orpheus shows animals galore, 
but the lyre and the tambourine alone remind us of the Story. 
Actzon is rich with architecture and foliage but it takes the 
horn and spear to call our attention to the fact that the splen- 
did stag whom the dogs attack is Acteon himself. Even 
Kuropa shows none of the charming maidens who usually 
dominate the scene, but, instead, cows on the seashore, and 
in the foreground a white bull looking eagerly for her who has 
bedecked him with flowers, while the caduceus of Mercury lying 
on the ground identifies the scene. (See Arts and Decoration 
of June, 1915). Three of the original set of eight was shown 
at Limoges in 1886; and two out of five belonging to French & 
Co., at the Philadelphia Tapestry Exhibition, 1915 (Nos. 45, 46 
of the catalogue). One of the Limoges ones was signed 


AUBUSSON TAPESTRIES 199 


F. PICQVEAVX, who belonged to an old family of Aubusson paint- 
er-weavers, and who was the King’s assorter of wool and silk 
at Aubusson from 1773 to 1786. M. Pérathon in speaking of 
these tapestries, says: ‘‘They place Francois Picqueaux in the 
first rank of Aubusson artists, and are justly considered as 
the chef-d’oeuvre of the ancient Aubusson Tapestry Factory.’’ 

Inspired by Oudry and by Beauvais are many of the best 
of the Aubusson verdures, among them the Dog pointing a 
Pheasant, of the Braquenié collection and the Dogs chasing 
a Rabbit, 9 feet 3 by 15 feet 8, lent by William Baumgarten 
& Co. to the Cleveland Tapestry Exhibition, 1918 (No. 48 of 
the catalogue). Oudry’s Lion and Mouse on white ground 
is No. 13 of the catalogue of the Buffalo Tapestry Exhibition, 
8 feet by 6 feet 10, lent by Mrs. Frank H. Goodyear. Perhaps 
by Dumons are the five Story of Diana tapestries from the 
Chateau de Vares, 8 feet high, in the Williamson sale, 
New York, 1911. Diana at the bath reflects Boucher; the 
others, Oudry. 

BOUCHER 


However, judging by the tapestries that have survived, 
Boucher was as easily first in popularity among Aubus- 
son weavers, as among those of Beauvais and the Gobelins. 
Again and again appear in auction sales, sets duplicat- 
ing part of the Chinese set designed by Boucher and car- 
tooned by Dumons for Beauvais. But in the Aubusson sets 
we also find compositions that were not part of the Beauvais 
set, sometimes based on other Chinese sketches by Boucher, 
sometimes supplementary designs by other artists. There 
are three of the Aubusson Chinese set 7 feet 7 inches high, 
and without border, in the Martin Le Roy collection (Illus- 
trated and described by M. Marquet de Vasselot in his splen- 
did catalogue of the collection). The titles are Drinking Tea, 
Gardening, and Fishing. The last of these is based on one 
of the Boucher sketches at Besancon. The others though 


200 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


similar in style do not look like Boucher. Other subjects that 
appear in a set of seven sold at the Hotel Drouot, May 5, 
1905, are: Chinese Emperor’s Audience, Chinese Dancing, 
Chinese Hunting, Chinese Fair, Rice Culture, Bird Seller; all 
but the last two, similar to the pieces of the same name in the 
Beauvais set. In the Vicomte de Curel sale, 1918, there were 
fine examples of Chinese Tea Drinking, and Chinese Dancing, 
9 feet high, and 16 feet long, respectively, with narrow gilt- 
frame border. M. Alfred Lacaze’s set of five adds another sub- 
ject, Hunting with the Bow; the Count Lefebvre de Behaines’ 
set of six, one of them double, adds the Toilet in a Park; the set 
of five sold at the Hotel Drouot December 21, 1916, adds the 
Flute Player, only 4 feet wide, and the Surprise of the Fisher- 
man, only 3 feet 7 wide. A Chinese Tea Drinking, with the 
Flute Player attached at the right, was sold at Sotheby’s No- 
vember 12, 1920. A majority of these were probably made 
by Jean Francois Picon, one of the most notable Aubusson 
manufacturers of the last half of the eighteenth century, whose 
signature M. R. DAVBVSSON. PIcon., M. Pérathon saw on three 
of a set belonging to M. Solanet. Two landscape chinoiseries 
sold at the Hotel Drouot on April 24, 1920, look more like 
Pillement, as does the chinoiserie landscape with turkeys in 
the foreground, signed by concerx (Plate XIII, b) of which 
M. Braquenié has a duplicate signed pvmontern. The four 
small figure pieces in the Baumgarten collection, with palm 
trees and without border, 514 feet high, are another group of 
Aubusson design, echoing Boucher faintly (Plate XITI, d.) 

An obvious imitation of the Gobelin-Boucher medallion 
tapestries are the Boucher medallion tapestries made at 
Aubusson, but with cream-white instead of crimson alentour, 
broken into pattern by strongly developed slits, and richly 
adorned with garlands of flowers and ribbons, and an occasional 
vase or trophy group. For example, one of these tapestries 
that I saw at Souhami’s in Paris in 1921 had a pair of pendant 
garlanded medallions, with pendant musical trophy between, 


AUBUSSON TAPESTRIES 201 


ribbon-suspended above a vase full of flowers. One of the 
medallion subjects, two children with a bird cage, is based on 
Boucher; the other, a man and a woman in a garden, looks 
more like Huet, who is responsible for the Huet-Boucher Pas- 
toral set of Beauvais. Similar in style and execution is the 
panel 714 by 221 feet, with three medallions and four trophies, 
on diamond quadrille background strongly developed by diag- 
onal series of slits, of the Williamson sale (New York, 1911). 
Also similar are the four small medallion panels picturing the 
Seasons, formerly lent to the Metropolitan Museum by Mrs. 
Frederick H. Allen. Suggestive of Fragonard is the Triumph 
of Cupid on Plate XIII, a, and its companion piece, the Bath 
of Psyche. 

Suggestive of Boucher’s son-in-law Boudouin, are the four 
gay panels 744 feet high without border, formerly in the col- 
lection of French & Co., one of which pictures Cupid and 
Psyche, with Cupid’s bow and arrow hanging from a tree, 
and a satyr peeking through the foliage. Altogether delight- 
ful are the various versions of Lancret’s Four Ages. Dawson 
had a set several years ago. 


HUET 


Favorite subjects of Jean Baptiste Huet were Country 
Games and Rural Scenes. I attribute to him the Pastorals 
in 8 pieces formerly in the Baumgarten collection (Plate 
XIII, da). The resemblance between these and the Beauvais 
Pastorals (Plate XI, fa), is obvious, especially in those Beau- 
vais examples that have a fringed valance intertwined with the 
flowers and palms above the figures (See plate on Page 433 of 
Guiffrey Histoire). The subjects of the Aubusson Set are: 
(1) Shepherd, (2) Shepherdess, (3) Morning, (4) Shooting (5) 
Seesaw, (6) Playing Ball, (7) Dancing, (8) Evening. The set 
averages 9 feet high, with combined length of 70% feet. Two 
of the pieces are very narrow, the Shepherd 19 inches wide, 
the Shepherdess, 30. Playing Ball (Plate XIII, da) is 8 feet 


202 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


wide. The widest two pieces are Morning (15 feet) and Eve- 
ning (16 feet 3), both of which are closely related to sketches 
of Huet’s that have been preserved. Similar in style and 
spirit are the four rather inferior Aubusson Pastorals in the 
Musée des Arts Décoratifs (Mérville Bequest), one of which 
the Sun Dial, is duplicated in the Braquenieé collection, and in 
No. 833 of the Spetz collection sold at the American Art Gal- 
leries, January 17, 1925. Huet had an extraordinary knack 
at the truly rural. The cows of the piece last noted have 
striking character and individuality. Also attributed to Huet 
is the more ambitious Greek Drapery set of five pieces, with 
rug and furniture coverings to match, formerly in the collec- 
tion of French & Co., called Greek because it spent a century 
in Greece before crossing the Atlantic, and Drapery because it 
has lambrequins at the top like the Baumgarten Pastorals 
(Plate XIII, da). One of the Greek Drapery set pictures the 
Fall of Phethon, the other four are scenes from Fénelon’s 
Story of Telemachus. One of the set is signed BABOVNEIX. 
The three large Telemachus pieces are: (1) Telemachus wel- 
comed by Calypso; (2) Telemachus plays the Flute in Egypt; 
(3) Telemachus extolled before the Altar of Jupiter, by the 
Cretan Priest Theophanes. Three of the six Aubusson Pas-_: 
torals formerly in the Ffoulke collection are hunting scenes. 
In the Braquenié collection, illustrated on page 509 of La 
Renaissance de L’Art Francais, for September, 1923, is an 
attractive Aubusson tapestry without border, reproducing one 
of Vernet’s ‘‘Harbor Scenes.’’ There were five of the set 
lent by the Hayden Co. to the Brooklyn Tapestry Exhibition, 
1914; and two lent by Alavoine to the Cleveland Tapestry 
Exhibition, 1918. 


AUBUSSON RUGS 
Owing to the production of many rugs in tapestry weave 
at Aubusson, the term Aubusson rugs has become synonymous 
with tapestry rugs. The few that have survived from the 


AUBUSSON TAPESTRIES 203 


eighteenth century are not attractive. Most of those seen 
in auction rooms are of the nineteenth century. 


REIMS, LILLE, AND NANCY 


A manufacturer of Flemish origin active at Reims from 
1627 to 1647 was Daniel Pepersack. His most important con- 
tract was with the Archbishop for a Life of Christ in 12 large 
pieces (18 feet 4 inches high), 14 small pieces, and 3 others, of 
which 17 still hang in the archepiscopal palace at Reims. The 
cartoons, of which 15 are preserved, were painted by Pierre 
Murgalet of Troyes. Pepersack’s full name appears on several 
of the tapestries. Some of his weavers were French, notably 
Pierre Damour, of Paris. The style is that of the Karly Gobe- 
lins, provincialized. The borders are wide and the coat-of- 
arms of the donor occupies the middle of the top border. 

Active at Lille in the first third of the eighteenth century 
was Guillaume Werniers, whose widow continued to operate 
the factory after his death. She signed herself La vEUVE DE G. 
WERNIERS. His tapestries are distinguished from the con- 
temporary ones of Brussels, by the borders only, that are 
floriated more loosely and have stronger whites. One of his 
important sets was a story of Don Quixote in 8 pieces. Don 
Quixote made Knight, signed «. w., and L. F. with fleur-de-lis 
between (for Lille, France), was sold with the Spetz collec- 
tion at the American Art Galleries, January 17, 1923. 

At Nancy and its suburb Malgrange and the adjacent Luné- 
ville, in the first quarter of the eighteenth century, Duke Leo- 
pold I of Lorraine had numerous tapestries woven to cele- 
brate the warlike virtues of his father, Duke Charles V of 
Lorraine. Most of these tapestries are now in the National 
Austrian collection, as part of the inheritance of Duke Francis 
III of Lorraine, who as a result of his marriage with Maria 
Theresa became co-regent of the Austrian States and later 
Emperor Francis I. They look like contemporary Brussels 
tapestries except that the blues are harder and more brilliant. 


204 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


There was formerly one of these Nancy tapestries in the 
Ffoulke collection, 124% by 22 feet, picturing the ‘‘Triumphal 
Procession of Charles V, Duke of Lorraine.’’ The earliest set 
contains five pieces and is signed oc. M. E. NANCI. 1705, oc. M. BE. 
being the initials of the manufacturer Charles Mitté. One of 
the second set, that contains 23 pieces, and is based on the 
paintings of Charles Herbel (+ 1703), is signed Farcr a LA 
MALGRANGE EN 1725. Besides these two sets there are many 
armorials displaying the arms of Duke Leopold and his wife, 
and a set of Months in 10 pieces. The first of the pieces 
combines January, February, and March, and ig 15% feet 
high by 454% feet long, the largest tapestry still in one piece 
with which I am acquainted. Even the huge Berne Trajan and 
Herkinbald (Chapter IV) is only 14 by 41 feet. 




















PLATES XIII, b, ba.—ABOVE, CHINOISERIE LANDSCAPE, SIGNED M. R. DAVBVSSON C. 
CONCEIX. BELOW, TRIUMPHAL ENTRY OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT INTO BABYLON, COPIED 
FROM THE DESIGN OF LEBRUN, SIGNED DAVBVSSON A. GRELLET,; IN THE CLEVELAND 


MUSEUM OF ART 


“*OO % HONGTYd ‘“M ‘d ‘“SIVANVEd YO AUGNO Ag 
SdSOHdUONVLAW AO LYS AHL JO SNOOLUVO BDUVT GHL dO ANO WOUd NAAOM ‘HOUIO JO DOVIVA—'9 ‘TIX GALVId 


duLNivd 





a 
LE EE 


‘00 ¥ NALUVOWOAVE ‘WM *,STVHOLSVd,, NOSSQGNV JO LOS IAX SINOT V JO ANO “TIVA DONIAVId ‘LHDIN AHL 
NO ‘“LNEWATTId GNV YAHONOT AO NOILVUIGSNI ‘AIMASIONIHO NOSSOGOV ‘DNIMNIUG VOL ‘Lda AHL NO— vp ‘p ‘IIx saLvid 


ne 





‘OO 8 HONGTUA *M *“d “NOILOWTION NVOUOW AHL NI ATHHWHOA “LONY SHCUOIRD FZHE NI GHONGOUdHY 
DNIHLOIO LAATHA HLIM ‘AULSHUVL TOHILAVaAT LAd TIVWS V ‘VaaHS JO NEGOD AHL GNV NOWOTOS—'@ ‘AIX ALVId 





CHAPTER XIV 
GERMAN AND SWISS TAPESTRIES 


GERMAN AND SWISS GOTHIC TAPESTRIES, GERMAN IMITATIONS OF 
FLEMISH AND FRENCH TAPESTRIES 


German and Swiss Gothic tapestries are ina class by them- 
selves. They are not an imitation of French Perfected Tap- 
estries, but a thoroughly German product developed in Ger- 
many. They are not of monumental size, but have an average 
width of alittle over a yard, with length of three yards or more. 
They were not often cartooned by skilful painters, and were 
never woven by highly trained weavers, such as created the 
masterpieces of Paris and Arras and Tournai and Brussels. 
They are usually provincial of design and erude of weave, 
having been made in convents and homes on small looms. 
The pictures were borrowed from the sources most available, 
manuscript and other paintings, and wood eneravings, and 
stained glass windows, or even damasks and embroideries. 
The texture shows markedly the influence of embroideries. 
There are splendid collections at Nuremberg, and Basel, and 
Berlin, of which all Germans should be proud. The best 
books on German tapestries are Schmidt Bildteppiche, with 
many illustrations (Berlin, 1919) and Burchardt Bildteppiche, 
richly illustrated in colour and devoted mainly to the tapes- 
tries of the Basel Museum (Leipzig, 1923). 


LOVE TAPESTRIES 
At the head of Early German Gothic tapestries stands the 
so-called Minneteppich (Love Tapestry), in the Museum of 
Nuremberg. It is 414 feet wide by 13 feet long, and shows 
groups of gentlemen and ladies in the costume of the Austrian 
205 


206 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


Tyrol of 1390, in social converse. The foreground is carpeted 
with flowers and small plants, and there are castles in the back- 
ground. A little later than this is the long strip with the 
Story of William of Orleans and the Beautiful Amelie, at 
Sigmaringen. Both tapestries have long scrolls with inscrip- 
tions in German. Sometimes we find Garden of Love scenes, 
with one couple playing chess, another playing cards, another 
affectionately at luncheon, etc. as in the strikingly beautiful 
iungel-Gros tapestry of the Basel Museum, the design of which 
very rightly to Herr Burckhardt suggests the Master kf. s. 
The weft is mostly wool with a little linen for the whites of 
the eyes, the playing cards and the head cloths; and a little 
silver on the chess-playing King. 


THE KITE 


Sometimes we have sets based ultimately on French 
romances, but directly on German versions. Such a set is 
the Kite (Der Busant) illustrated and described by Betty 
Kurth in Volume XXXII of the Austrian Jahrbuch, one piece 
of which is in the Victoria and Albert Museum, another in the 
Nuremberg Museum, and two fragments in German private 
collections. German inscriptions explain the different scenes. 
The story is quaint and the tapestry pictures are charming. 
The son of the King of England is sent to school in Paris. 
There he gets acquainted with the daughter of the King of 
France who has been betrothed against her will to the rich 
KXing of Morocco. They fall in love and plight their troth 
secretly. The English Prince goes back to England, promis- 
ing to return in a year and elope with the French Princess on 
the day set for her wedding with the Moorish King. He duly 
returns, with three fast horses, but disguised as a fiddler. 
The King invites him to play at the wedding. He refuses, 
with the excuse that he has to set free a white dove, in accord- 
ance with a promise made a year ago. Meanwhile the King 


GERMAN AND SWISS TAPESTRIES 207 


of Morocco arrives, and all the court go to greet him. The 
Princess, left alone and unwatched, slips out into the garden, 
and rides off with the fiddler. When the King of Morocco 
asks for his bride, she cannot be found. Meanwhile the elopers 
reach an opening in the forest, and alight for a short rest. 
They send their attendant to seek lodging in the nearest city. 
The Princess falls asleep with her head in the Prince’s lap. 
While she sleeps, he takes two rings from her fingers. <A kite 
swoops down from the sky and makes off with one of them. 
The Prince throws sticks and stones at the kite, and starts 
in pursuit. He loses his way, and is unable to get back to the 
Princess. In mad despair he tears the clothes from his body, 
and ranges the woods like a wild beast. Meanwhile the Prin- 
cess awakes, and after waiting long in vain, finds refuge with a 
miller. The pair suffer much before being finally united after 
many years. The tapestry in the Victoria and Albert Museum 
begins with the Prince’s return to England. (Scene 1) His 
parents, the King and Queen of England, receive him joyfully. 
(Scene 2) The Prince orders his men to get him three fast 
horses and a fiddle (Scene 3) His men bring him the three 
fast horses and the fiddle. (Scene 4) The Prince arrives in 
Paris, and the King of France invites him to the wedding. 
(Scene 5) The King of Morocco arrives and is welcomed by 
the King and Queen of France. (Scene 6) The Lovers elope. 
The two fragments in private possession show the Princess 
asleep in the Prince’s lap; and the Kite in a Tree with the Ring 
in its Mouth, while the Prince still wearing his crown, has 
become a wild man, covered with long, shaggy hair. All the 
scenes have explanatory scrolls in German verse. 

A favorite amusement of the fifteenth century was to mas- 
querade as wild men. Picturesque Wild Men tapestries are 
those at Sigmaringen, Regensburg, Basel, and Brussels. Often 
exiting, unicorns and other fabulous animals appear. 


208 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


THE NINE PREUX 


Sometimes the subjects are historical. Probably the best- 
known German-Swiss tapestry is the Nine Preux (Plate 
XIV, c), with the coat-of-arms of the Eberler family of Basel 
(a boar’s head) at the left of Judas’ sword. Only the right half 
of the tapestry remains. Probably it was sometime divided 
between two heirs. On the left, we have part of David with 
half of his inscription. Next comes Judas, with sword-and- 
sphinx coat-of-arms; next Arthur with his three crowns on 
the flag at the end of his lance; next Charlemagne with half 
the Imperial eagle and the French fleurs-de-lis; next Godfrey 
de Bouillon, with the Cross of Jerusalem and a white cross- 
band on red. King Arthur’s scroll reads: kunig. artus. min. 
macht. und. min. miltikeit. das. ich. alle. lant. erstreit (King 
Arthur. My power and my prowess so that I conquered 
every land). The Orleans Museum has a Joan of Arc entering 
Chinon, with the German inscription: Here comes the Virgin 
sent by God to the Dauphin in his land. Charles stands on 
the steps of the Castle to receive her. Joan carries a pennant 
showing the Virgin and two angels, the inscription Ihs Maria, 
and three fleurs-de-lis. The details of the composition, small 
animals in the foreground, fish in the moat, and foliage in 
both foreground and background, are naively archaic. 


RELIGIOUS TAPESTRIES 


Sometimes the subjects are religious (Plate XIV, ba). 
Here we have in the middle, three scenes from the Life of 
Christ: On the left, the Presentation in the Temple; on the 
right, His Entry into Jerusalem; in between, His Appearance 
to Mary Magdalen after Resurrection. At each end of the tap- 
estry are four Saints: On the left, (1) Saint Cecilia, with 
book; (2) Saint Elizabeth, with crown, a kettle, and bread; 
(3) John the Baptist, with lamb on book; (4) Saint Agnes 
with lamb at her feet. On the right, (1) Saint Margaret of 


GERMAN AND SWISS TAPESTRIES 209 


Hungary, with lily and crown, and with the donor of the tap- 
estry, a Dominican nun, at her feet; (2) Saint Dominic with 
star and lily; (3) Peter the Martyr, with knife and three head- 
wounds, crowned; (4) probably Saint Thomas Aquinas. 

Mr. Charles Iklé has a Story of the Virgin, in six. scenes, 
with silk and gold, 344 by 11 feet. There were formerly in 
the collection of French & Co. two fragments, each with a scene 
from the Story of Saint Ursula, who found martyrdom in the 
third century A. D. at Cologne. The Basel Museum has the 
Story of Lazarus, 8% by 12 feet, with the Jewish Temple of 
Jerusalem as pictured in 1491 by Anton Koberger, in the 
upper left corner, and a city in the distance more or less 
modeled after Basel. In the foreground of the tapestry, with 
four explanatory quatrains in German, are the two main 
scenes, Lazarus repulsed from the table of the Rich Man; 
and the Rich Man dying in Misery while his five heirs fight 
over the Inheritance. Above, we see vividly portrayed the 
agony of the Rich Man burning in Hell as he looks up to 
Heaven and sees Lazarus in Abraham’s lap. 


MORGAN QUEEN OF SHEBA 


Small but uniquely beautiful is Solomon and the Queen 
of Sheba (formerly in the Morgan collection, and shown at 
the Burlington Fine Arts Club in 1906) with the velvet parts 
of the robes woven in the Ghiordes knot. The Queen is test- 
ing Solomon’s wisdom. She holds in her hand two flowers, 
one of which is artificial. Before her are two children, one a 
girl, the other a boy. The game is for Solomon to tell which is 
the real flower, and which is the girl. The Queen’s inscription 
reads: Bescheyd mich kunig ob blumen und kind, Glich an art 
oderunglich sint (Inform me King, whether the flowers and the 
children are of the same kind, or different). The King’s 
inscription reads: Dre bine eine guote blum nit spart, Das 


210 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


knuwen zgoigt die wiplich art (The bee spares not a good flower. 
The kneeling shows the female kind). The Basel Museum 
has a degenerate Renaissance version of this dated 1561. In 
the sixteenth century many small tapestries continued to be 
made after fifteenth century German traditions. They were 
apt to be archaic and still saturated with Gothic, even when 
the costumes had turned Renaissance. By the end of the six- 
teenth century, however, little Gothic was left, as is illustrated 
by the six tiny Alsatian Life of Christ tapestries, 39 by 30 
inches, in the Metropolitan Museum, with German inscriptions, 
and the weavers’ monograms a R and1c M, and the dates 1592, 
1595, 1598, or 1600. Two of them are based on Durer’s 
Small Passion. 


IMITATIONS OF FLEMISH AND FRENCH 


None of the German imitations of Flemish and French 
tapestries are important. Among the various short-lived 
factories were those of: 


I. Seeger Bombeck, a tapestry manufacturer from Brussels, at Leipzig 
and other places in Saxony, in the sixteenth century. 

II. Hans van der Biest, also from Brussels, in Munich, at the begin- 
ning of the seventeenth century, made the great series of the 
Months, the Seasons, and the Triumphs of Otto von Wittelsbach, 
in the Munich Museum. 

III. Pierre Mercier, from Aubusson, in Berlin at the end of the seventeenth 
century, six of whose Triumphs of the Great Elector designed by 
the Flemish painter Langefeld in imitation of the Gobelin Story of 
Louis XIV, are in the Royal Castle at Berlin. 

IV. Jean Barraband, from Aubusson, in Berlin at the beginning of the 
eighteenth century. 

V. Pierre Mercier, in 1714 moved from Berlin to Dresden. 


VI. Charles Le Vigne, in Berlin, after Barraband’s death, had fresh 
weavers imported from Brussels and Paris. 


GERMAN AND SWISS TAPESTRIES 211 


VII. Andreas Pirot, in Wurzburg, in the second quarter of the eighteenth 
century, made the large “burlesque” tapestries that still hang in the 
bedroom of Wurzburg Castle for which they were cartooned, (Plate 
90 of Schmidt Bildteppiche) by the court painter Rudolf Byss, 
with Vernansal’s Beauvais “Chinese Set” in mind. 

VIII. In Munich, a plant founded by the Duke of Bavaria in 1718 lasted 
until after 1800, where was woven the great History of the Dukes 
of Bavaria, now in the Munich Museum; and later the Seasons, the 
Bacchus, the Flora, designed by the court painter Christian Winck, 
and now on the upper floor of the Munich Museum, in the Porce- 
lain Room. 








PLATES XIV, b, ba.—ABOVE, GARDEN OF LOVE, FRIEZE TAPESTRY (NARROW AND LONG, 3 FEET 4 BY II 
FEET 8) MADE AT BALE IN THE THIRD QUARTER OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. FORMERLY IN THE ENGEL—GROS 
COLLECTION; NOW IN THE BALE MUSEUM. BELOW, PRESENTATION WITH OTHER SCENES, MADE IN BALE ABOUT 


1480; IN THE BALE MUSEUM 


WOGSOW WIyd AHL NI 


“AUQLNGO HINGELAIA AHL dO GNA Gt UVAN G1yd LY AGVW ‘SWHV—dO-SLVOO YIGHL HLIM XOMUd ANIN AHL ONIWOLOId AULSAdVL 


azaiud V dO LNAWOVad ‘NOTIINOd Ad ATYAGOD ‘ANDVNIUVHO ‘MOHLAV ‘SAaaVOOVW svaar ‘(dO LUVd) GIAVO—'d ‘AIX BLV Ia 





CHAPTER XV 
ITALIAN TAPESTRIES 
MANTUA, MILAN, FERRARA, FLORENCE, ROME 


ConsipErine the very great and almost necessary use of 
tapestry for the decoration of the bare, stucco walls of the 
Italian Renaissance, it seems strange to have to say that tap- 
estry weaving in Italy was a borrowed art. During the four- 
teenth and fifteenth centuries the Italians imported most of 
their tapestries from the North. They also imported workmen 
to care for and repair them. Their attempts to have tapes- 
tries made at home were sporadic and unimportant. 

The finest tapestries made in Italy in the fifteenth century 
were designed by Mantegna for the Gonzagas. They were 
used as a standard of comparison by a sixteenth century critic 
of Leo X’s set of Flemish Acts of the Apostles after Raphael. 
That they were woven at Mantua by French Flemish weavers, 
is probable. With this group I associate Mr. Ryerson’s Annun- 
ciation, formerly in the Spitzer collection (No. 1 of the Tapes- 
tries of the monumental catalogue). This Annunciation 4 by 7 
feet is one of the finest small tapestries in existence. Though 
faded it still speaks eloquently. It is rich with gold, and is a 
marvel of high-warp weaving. The treatment of faces and 
hands is brilliant and distinctive. They have none of the dry 
hardness annoying in much tapestry flesh, but are alive with 
blood that flushes pink beneath the skin. The wool was not 
only loosely twisted—or perhaps untwisted as the weaver 
inserted it—but also loosely woven, incredibly so. Conse- 
quently the flesh surface is a soft and minutely fuzzy texture 
that contrasts strongly but agreeably with the stiff ribs of the 
ground surrounding. The freedom with which the threads 
have been manipulated to form eyes and other details is extra- 

213 


214 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


ordinary. This tapestry is the creation of a great weaver, 
inspired by a noble cartoon. 

In the sixteenth century the most important tapestry fac- 
tories in Italy were those of Milan, Ferrara, and Florence. 
The set of Twelve Months completed in the first decade at the 
Milanese suburb of Vigevano for the Marchese Triulzio is still 
in the possession of the family. The designer was Bramantino 
(Wilhelm Suida in Volume XXV of the Austrian Jahrbuch) 
and the weaver was Benedetto da Milano, apparently an 
Italian, who signed on a pilaster at the right of January: Eco 
BENEDICTVS DE MEDIOLANO HOC OPVS FECIT CON SOCIIS SVVIS IN 
vieLI. The borders are crowded with coats-of-arms of the 
family and their connections. In a medallion pendent from the 
top border is displayed the coat-of-arms of the Marchese, with 
his name and titles. In the upper left corner, the sun; in the 
upper right corner, the appropriate sign of the Zodiae. At the 
bottom, a Latin quatrain descriptive of the scene that is suit- 
able to the season. 


FERRARA TAPESTRY FACTORY 


From Ferrara we have the two Grotesques in the Musée des 
Arts Décoratifs, the set of eight in the Cathedral of Ferrara 
picturing the Acts of Saint Maurelius and Saint George, the 
Story of the Virgin in the Cathedral of Como, and the Hercules 
slaying the Nemean Lion, now in America (Plate XV, a). The 
Hercules set to which this belongs, as well as a set of Ovid’s 
Metamorphoses several of which are in the Museum of the 
Gobelins, were designed by Battista Dosso. The head weaver 
of the Ferrara Tapestry Factory (1536-1559) was Hans 
Karcher whose brother Nicolas Karcher left him in 1546 to 
go to Florence. Other tapestries that group themselves with 
these are the Moses set of the Cathedral of Milan, and the two 
Caesars, one of which was formerly in the Bauer collection 
at Florence, the other of which is in the Musée des Arts 
Décoratifs (Plate XV, ec). There were formerly five of the 


ITALIAN TAPESTRIES 215 


Moses set surviving, one a fragment consisting of only the 
upper third, but three were destroyed by fire at the Interna- 
tional Exhibition of Milan in 1906. All the five pieces bore 
the Gonzaga arms in the middle of the top border, and one of 
them on each side of the coat-of-arms, had square medallions 
saying in Latin: William Duke of Mantua, Marquis of 
Mantua (who held these titles from 1550 to 1587). The frag- 
ment with its six cherubs is reminiscent of Giulio Romano’s 
Children Playing. The borders of these tapestries were wide 
thick masses of foliage and fruit, with occasional serpents and 
fish, with medallions in most of the corners, and with masks 
in the middle of the side borders. Two of the complete tap- 
estries had oval picture medallions in the middle of the bottom. 
border; the other two, William, Duke of Mantua inscribed in 
Latin on square medallions. 


MEDICI TAPESTRY FACTORY 


The Medici Tapestry Factory (1546-1737) was established 
by Duke Cosimo I, with Nicolas Karcher and John Roost as 
master weavers. Karcher signed his monogram, John Roost, 
the picture of a Roast on a turnspit. The Medici coat-of- 
arms appears on many of the tapestries (Plate XV, b). The 
great period of the Medici Tapestry Works ended in lov4 
with the death of Duke Cosimo I. The Royal Italian collec- 
tion at Florence is rich in Medici tapestries. There are 
few elsewhere. Many hang in the Uffizi, the Pitti, and the 
Palazzo Vecchio, but more are in storage and inaccessible to 
visitors. In the Uffizi are the Months, in four pieces, by 
Roost and Karcher, after cartoons of Bachiacca. The Palazzo 
Communale at Genoa has a set of Months, two in each tapestry, 
that may be from the Medici Factory. Three of the finest 
tapestries made at the Medici Works are the Hece Homo 
(Plate XV, b), Deposition, and Resurrection, by Nicolas 
Karcher, after Salviati, all rich with gold. Another impres- 
sive piece is the Entombment, by Roost, after Rossi. The 


216 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


most important set made by Roost and Karcher was the Story 
of Joseph, in twenty pieces, after Bronzino. These tapestries 
are much better in weave than in design. The compositions are 
too restless and broken, and too sculptural. During the last 
quarter of the century many religious subjects were woven 
after Allori. The Dante and Virgil of the Minneapolis 
Museum, though fresher in color, seems to group itself with 
the Metropolitan Museum’s Moses striking the Rock which is 
signed in the bottom selvage by Bernardino van Asselt, who 
was active in the first half of the seventeenth century. The 
master weaver of highest reputation at the Medici works in 
the seventeenth century was the Frenchman, Pierre Lefebvre, 
who was called back to France by Mazarin, to reorganize the 
tapestry plant at the Louvre, and who later returned to Flor- 
ence, leaving behind him his son Jean who became the first 
famous Lefebvre of the Gobelins. The Bathsheba at the Bath 
illustrated on Plate XV, da, is signed in the lower right corner 
of the panel, by the designer as well as by Lefebvre, p. artEeMr1 
PINX P. FEVERE PARISIIS EXTRAX 1663. There are three Atneas 
tapestries in the Hotel Biltmore, one of which is signed FEVERE. 


BARBERINI TAPESTRY FACTORY 


Especially interesting to Americans is the Barberini Fac- 
tory in Rome, founded in 1633 by Cardinal Francesco Bar- 
berini, nephew of Pope Urban VIII. The Life of Christ in 
eleven pieces, designed by Romanelli and woven by Riviera, 
was formerly exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum, and now 
hangs in the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, the gift of 
Mrs. John W. Simpson. Several of the pieces are signed 
TAC D.L.RIV. and all bear the arms of Urban VIII in each of the 
four corners—three golden bees, montantes, shaded with sable, 
posed two and one on azure field. In the middle of some of the 
top borders is the Sun, adopted by the Barberini as crest. 
Others have a plough drawn by two bees and guided by a third. 
The twelfth tapestry, a map of the Holy Land, though appro- 


ITALIAN TAPESTRIES e17 


priate as a subject and woven by Riviera, is not part of the 
set. Mrs. Twombly has an Apollo set of five, after Poussin, 
made at the Barberini Works, and formerly in the Ffoulke col- 
lection. The Cleveland Museum has a set of eight Dido and 
AMneas tapestries, after Romanelli, made at the Barberini 
Works by m. wavrers who signed them, as did the artist. Mr. 
McLean has five Constantine tapestries signed RIVIERA. 

In 1710 the manufacture of tapestries was revived at Rome 
by Pope Clement XI, with Jean Simonet as manager, and 
Andrea Procaccini, who later went to the Madrid Tapestry 
Works, as artistic director. From 1717 to 1770 Pietro Ferloni 
was manager and his signature appears on one of the five 
Jerusalem Liberated tapestries belonging to the Metropolitan 
Museum, and formerly in the Duke of Hamilton collection. 
Another of the set passed through the Marquand Sale, 1903, 
as a Louis XV Gobelin. 








PLATE XV, &8.—HERCULES SLAYING THE NEMEAN LION, MADE AT FERRARA IN THE FIRST HALF OF 
THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. HARDING 





itt EASE HELLAS COLE EREES HUGO ONE lh 





DESIGNED BY SALVIATI 


TRY RICH WITH GOLD, 


Ss 


, A TAPE 


—ECCE HOMO 


b 
BY NICOLAS KARCHER IN 1549 AT THE MEDICI WORKS IN FLORENCE. 


ITALIAN COLLECTION, 


’ 


PLATE XV 


AND WOVEN 


ROYAL 


FLORENCE 


=e 
2 








use 
4 * Eeey ase 
meee =i ; 


nai Dinca iver oe 





PLATES XV, C, C&a.—ON THE LEFT, POMPEY’S HEAD BROUGHT TO CAESAR, ITALIAN TAPESTRY OF THE FIRST HALF 
OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY, MUSEE DES ARTS DECORATIFS. ON THE RIGHT, DANTE AND VIRGIL, LARGE ITALIAN 
RENAISSANCE TAPESTRY, WITH SCENE FROM DANTE’S GREAT POEM, MINNEAPOLIS INSTITUTE OF ARTS 


YaAVAM GNV YANDISHG HLOG AO SHNWVN GHL HLIM 
anv ‘CQQI GLVd GHL HALIM YANUYOD LHDIN YAMOT AHL NI GANDIS ‘SHUOM ANLSAAVL INIGdW AHL LV AdVW ‘ONIHLVE 


VaGHSHLVd SHAS dIAVG “LHDIN FHL NO “LUV JO WOAASAW NVLITOAOULUW ‘{‘ADVAINS WOLLO@ GHL NI Suvadav 
GUOLVNSIS ASOHM LIASSV NVA ONIGUVNUAD AM AYNINGAO HLINAGALNAAGS GHL AO AIVH LSUld AHL NI GONANOTA NI 
SHHOM IOIGHN GHL LY ACWW AWLSAdVL GAOUVT “HOOU AHL ONINIULS SASON ‘LAGI GHL NO— ‘ep ‘p ‘Ax SaLVTad 





CHAPTER XVI 
ENGLISH, SPANISH, AND RUSSIAN TAPESTRIES 


BARCHESTON, MORTLAKE, VULCAN AND VENUS, ACTS OF THE 
APOSTLES, HERO AND LEANDER, JOHN VANDERBANK, GOYA, RUSSIAN 
INDIES AND COPIES OF PAINTINGS 


PractrcaLty all of the numerous tapestries listed in the 
inventories of Henry V and Henry VIII came from across the 
Channel. While some of the less important ones may have 
been woven in England, by French-Flemish weavers, the first 
English tapestry factory of any continuity appears to have 
been established in the middle of the sixteenth century, 
at Barcheston in Warwickshire, by Richard Hyckes, with 
William Sheldon an English country squire as patron. A 
tapestry in the Victoria and Albert Museum, 7 feet 8 by 13, 
without border, and attributed to this factory (Page 48 of 
Thomson English) bears in the centre the coat-of-arms of 
Sir William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke. The design is one 
of the Italian Grotesques so popular during the Renaissance 
and later, modified by residence in Flanders. On each side 
of the coat-of-arms are picture medallions showing Pride and 
Luxury. Other armorial tapestries attributed to Barcheston 
are the one at Chawton Manor which is dated 1564 and is a 
record of the marriages of the Lewkenor family ; and four at 
Drayton House, Northamptonshire, bearing the arms, crests, 
supporters, and motto of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester 
and Warwick, and favourite of Queen Elizabeth. Later in 
date are the three huge tapestry maps in the museum of the 
York Philosophical Society, of Warwickshire, Worcester- 
shire, and other English counties. T'wo of these are signed 
Richard Hyckes, and one Francis Hyckes. All bear the 
Sheldonarms. Also attributed to Barcheston are the Marquis 

219 


220 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


of Salisbury’s Four Seasons, with large lightly clad figures in 
the centre, Venus for Spring, Ceres for Summer, Bacchus for 
Autumn, and Afolus for Winter, and with appropriate signs 
of the Zodiac above. In the background are personages 
engaged in the labours of the season. The wide border is 
crowded with tiny panels illustrating Latin inscriptions. The 
coat-of-arms in the middle of the top border is that of Sir 
John Tracey of Doddington in Gloucestershire (who was 
knighted by King James) impaling the arms of his wife, 
Anne Shirley of Isfield. The inspiration is Flemish-Italian, 
but the execution of both design and weave is English. 


MORTLAKE TAPESTRY WORKS 


The great name in the history of tapestry weaving in Eng- 
land is Mortlake. The great period is 1620 to 1636. For 
sixteen years Mortlake tapestries rivaled those of the Early 
Gobelins, and surpassed those of Brussels. After that the 
degeneration was rapid. The death of Charles I ended all 
hope of sufficient governmental and social support. The 
Mortlake Tapestry Works struggled on weakly until the reign 
of Queen Anne, and then gave up the ghost completely. 

The success of Henri IV in establishing the Early Gobe- 
lins (Chapter IX) stirred England to imitation. A copy of 
the agreement made by Henri IV with Comans and Planche 
was secured, and the Mortlake plant was organized along simi- 
lar lines. The proprietor was Sir Francis Crane, last lay chan- 
cellor of the Order of the Garter, and a prominent figure at the 
Courts of both James I and Charles I. To assist in financing 
the undertaking, Sir Francis was in August 1619 granted the 
fees of the making of three baronets. Arrangements were 
made by the King’s agents abroad for the importation of Flem- 
ish weavers. In 1620 the secretary of the Flemish embassy at 
London reported to his sovereigns, Albert and Isabella, 
Archdukes of the Netherlands, that fifty had already 
arrived. Among them was Philip de Maecht of the Early 


ENGLISH, SPANISH, AND RUSSIAN TAPESTRIES 221 


Gobelins, whose signature appears on both Gobelin and Mort- 
lake tapestries. 

The man most responsible for the foundation of the Mort- 
lake Tapestry Works appears to have been ‘‘Steenie’’ the 
Marquis of Buckingham (Duke after May 18, 1623), bosom 
friend and mentor of the Prince of Wales and an art amateur 
of great experience and ability. He not only encouraged 
Charles to place generous orders at Mortlake, but also ordered 
tapestries made for himself. Payments, however, were less 
prompt than orders during the life of James I. During the 
absence of Charles and Buckingham in Spain in 1623, Sir 
Francis Crane complained to the King that his estate was 
wholly exhausted and credit spent, with £16,000 already put 
into the business and with return of only £2500. The Prince 
wrote from Madrid directing the payment of £700 for the 
Raphael Cartoons ordered from Genoa, and of £500 on the set 
of Twelve Months which he was anxious to have finished 
before his return to England. When the Prince came to the 
throne in 1625 as Charles I, Sir Francis Crane was rewarded 
for his patience. The King granted him £1000 a year ° ‘for the 
better Maintenance of the said Workes of Tapestries,’’ and a 
second £1000 a year until the £6000 balance due on three sets of 
gold tapestry should be paid. The King also granted to 
Francis Cleyn, artistic director of the Mortlake Tapestry 
Works, a salary of £100 a year for life. 

The first set of tapestries made at Mortlake was the Story 
of Vulean and Venus in nine pieces, copied from a Brussels 
Renaissance set. It was begun on September 16, 1620 and 
finished on June 5, 1622. It was woven plain without gold 
except ‘‘in the piece of Apollo,’’ and cost £2000. Three gold 
sets made later cost £3000 apiece. To the gold sets belong 
the Vulcan’s Complaint to Jupiter formerly lent to the Metro- 
politan Museum by Baroness von Zedlitz; and the Gods dis- 
covering the Amours of Mars and Venus, in the Victoria and 
Albert Museum. Both are signed with the Mortlake mark, 


222 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


which is the red cross of St. George on a white shield, and with 
the monogram of Philip de Maecht. Both were finished by 1625 
as shown by the badge of the Prince of Wales (the motto 1cu 
pieN, and three ostrich feathers enfiled by a coronet) in the 
middle of the top border. In the middle of the bottom border 
ig a medallion probably adapted from the similar medallion 
of the Early Gobelins, four crossed sceptres tied with ribbon. 
The inscription SCEPTRA FAVENT ARTES, which should read 
SCEPTRA FOVENT ARTES (Sceptres, that is to say Kings, nourish 
the arts), is apparently a Mortlake addition. There are five 
of the pieces from one of the gold sets, in the National French 
collection. The piece in the Royal Swedish collection bears 
the arms of Buckingham overlaid with the arms of the King 
of Sweden. Pieces without gold are the three formerly lent to 
the Metropolitan Museum by Mr. Philip Hiss. Five of 
the Brussels Renaissance set from which the Mortlake set was 
copied were exhibited in Paris at the Union Centrale in 1876. 
All were enriched with gold, and all had the story told in 
Latin quatrains in the middle of the side borders (Illustrated 
in L’Art of the year 1881). The design suggests the inspira- 
tion but not the hand of Giulio Romano. It is more like the 
design of Mr. Stevens’ Psyche set at the Metropolitan Museum, 

The finest set of Mortlake tapestries in existence is 
Raphael’s Acts of the Apostles, with gold, in the National 
French collection (Plate XVI, a). They were copied from 
the seven Raphael Cartoons now in the Victoria and Albert 
Museum (See Chapter XVIII, and Plates XVIII, j, ja), and 
have elaborately beautiful borders attributed to Van Dyck, 
with cherubs and with many picture medallions of the Life 
of Christ in bronze cameo, different in the different tapestries. 
In the middle of the top borders, is the Royal coat-of-arms 
supported by lion and unicorn and encircled by HONI soIT QUI 
MAL Y PENSE. In the middle of the bottom borders is a medal- 
lion with Latin inscription, and with Car. Re. Reg. Mort. 
(Carolo rege regnante Mortlake)=(Mortlake, Charles reign- 


ENGLISH, SPANISH, AND RUSSIAN TAPESTRIES = 223 


ing as King). The Latin inscription in the medallion of Curing 
the Paralytic (Plate XVI, a) is: DUM PETIT ARGENTUM, FIRMATA 
EST TIBIA CLAUDO. NON DARE QUOD PETIT GRATIA MAIOR ERAT. 
(When the Paralytic asked for money, his leg was cured. To 
refuse what he asked was a greater favor). In the four cor- 
ners of the tapestry, are cherubs holding a book with the sym- 
bol of an evangelist beside them—an angel in the upper left 
corner for St. Matthew, a lion in the upper right corner for St. 
Mark, an ox in the lower right corner for St. Luke, an eagle in 
the lower left corner for St. John. In the panel, St. John ex- 
tends his arm over the head of the Paralytic, while St. Peter 
grasps the Paralytic’s left arm. The architecture of the tapes- 
try is rich and noble, and the hands of relief on the twisted 
columns are inspiring, with cupids and vines borrowed from 
ancient Rome. There are five Mortlake Acts of the Apostles 
tapestries, with later borders, at Forde Abbey, presented by 
Queen Anne to Sir Frances Gwyn. 

Other sets made at Mortlake in the great period are the 
Naked Boyes (Children Playing), after Giulio Romano; the 
Twelve Months, also from sixteenth century designs; the 
Horses, and Hero and Leander, both designed by Francis 
Cleyn. There are five of the Hero and Leander set of six 
in the Royal Swedish collection. They are described in the 
1656 inventory of the Swedish Kings tapestries as ‘‘beautiful 
tapestries of fine quality, new, enriched with gold and silver, 
which were given to His Royal Majesty (as a wedding pres- 
ent) by Count Johan (Axelstierna).”’ There is a full set of 
Hero and Leander, with different borders and made a little 
later, in the Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight, near 
Liverpool, in England (Plates XVI, b, ba). A coarse and 
inferior ‘‘Hero casting herself into the Hellespont after the 
Death of Leander,’’ from the collection of Mr. Charles Henry 
Allen, of Westham, Sussex, England, was sold at the Anderson 
Galleries on April 25, 1925. It had the Mortlake mark in the 
right selvage. 


224 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


The death of Sir Francis Crane in 1636 ended the pros- 
perity of Mortlake. His brother Captain Richard Crane could 
not even pay the men their wages, and a year after the death 
of Sir Francis, the King bought the plant which became ‘‘the 
King’s Works.’’? The King provided a subsidy of £2000 a 
year, and increased the salary of Francis Cleyn to £250 a year, 
out of which he was to pay his assistant. But the outbreak of 
the Great Rebellion in 1642 made it impossible for the King to 
keep up his payments. In 1649 he was put to death. Crom- 
well liked tapestries and had his bedroom at Hampton Court 
adorned with ‘‘five pieces of fine tapestry hangings of Vulcan 
and Venus.’’ In 1653 he sent Mantegna’s nine famous paint- 
ings of the Triumphs of Caesar to Mortlake that cartoons 
might be copied from them. The tapestries made from 
these cartoons were acquired by Charles II. During the reign 
of Charles IT, Sir Sackville Crow tried to revive the industry, 
but failed, as did his successor Francus Poyntz. The tapes- 
tries of this period were poor. 

Some of the Mortlake weavers set up for themselves in a 
small way. In 1671 William Benood of Lambeth made for 
the Countess of Rutland the six small Vulean and Venus tap- 
estries without border, now in Haddon Hall. From Lambeth 
came also a set of Classic Scenes, one of which is now in the 
Victoria and Albert Museum. It is inscribed in the lower 
border MADE AT LAMBETH, and is crude. The subject is the 
Elopement of Helen of Troy, redrawn from some Gothic 
version. A duplicate of this, together with another piece of 
this same set, the Slaying of Niobe’s Children, were sold with 
the Spetz collection, New York, 1925. In 1686 Thomas 
Poyntz made three Months for the Queen’s bedchamber in 
Windsor Castle. 

The most successful English tapestry manufacturer of the 
period of Queen Anne was John Vanderbane, who had charge 
of the Royal ‘‘Great Wardrobe’’ in Great Queen Street, Soho, 


ENGLISH, SPANISH, AND RUSSIAN TAPESTRIES — 225 


from 1689 to 1727. He is represented in America by the 
Chinoiserie in the Metropolitan Museum (Plate XVI, c); by 
Lebrun’s Air, and Water, copied from the Gobelins; and by 
the four famous Yale tapestries in the collection of French & 
Co. Closely related to the Chinoiserie through the flowers 
that enrich both, is the Baroque Grotesque presented by 
Duveen Bros. to the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1901. 

The Air (Plate XVI, cb) after Lebrun is signed on the 
bottom selvage, IOHN VANDERBANC IN GREAT QUEEN STREET. In 
the middle of the top border, the arms of England. On the 
shield held by Juno’s companion, Iris, the arms of Lord Gray 
for whom the tapestry was made, a Jacob’s ladder with baton 
below and coronet above. In the Louis XIV original this 
shield bore the monogram of the King. The Yale tapestries 
belong to the so-called ‘‘Indian’’ group based on Chinese 
lacquer screens, and with Chinese or Hindoo personages. 
There are two of these ‘‘Indian”’ tapestries in the Victoria and 
Albert Museum, one of them signed IOHN VANDERBANC FECIT. 
There are also two at Belton House, and others at Adlington 
Hall, in Cheshire. The Yale tapestries get their name from 
having once been the property of Elihu Yale, to whom Yale 
University owes its name. Elihu Yale was born at Boston in 
1648, returned with his parents to England in 1652, and in 
1672 went to India where he became Governor of Madras and 
amassed a princely fortune. At the invitation of Cotton 
Mather, Elihu Yale in 1718 sent over a cargo of books, pic- 
tures, and other effects that were sold for the benefit of the 
struggling school in New Haven. Gratitude for the gift gave 
Yale its name. Elihu Yale had three daughters, the eldest 
of whom married the son of Baron Guilford. The tapestries 
left by her father remained in the possession of the Guilford 
family at Glemham, Suffolk, until sold at Sotheby’s in | 
July, 1924. 

Other English tapestry weavers of the eighteenth century 


226 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


were Stephen Demay, Bradshaw, Peter Parisot, and Paul 
Saunders. At Burley-on-the-Hill are the four Hero and 
Leander, and the nine Acts of the Apostles tapestries, made 
by Demay for the Earl of Nottingham. Bradshaw’s signa- 
ture, STRANOYER above and BrapsHaw below the Mortlake 
shield, appears on a hunting tapestry formerly in the Van 
Straaten collection and on a sofa at Belton House (Illustrated 
in colour opposite Page 150 of Thomson English). Parisot 
had a shop first at Paddington, later at Fulham, and enjoyed 
the patronage of the Duke of Cumberland. He flourished 
briefly. The most interesting item of his sale in 1755 was a set 
of five teniéres. Though Paul Saunders of Soho belongs to 
the washed-out school of the last half of the eighteenth cen- 
tury, there is charm about many of his French-inspired pieces 
(Plate XVI, ca). The Duke of Northumberland has a set of 
landscapes, with peasants and ruins of Roman architecture, 
signed P. SAUNDERS, SOHO, 1758, the design of which was attrib- 
uted by Dr. Rock to Francesco Zuccharelli. 


SPANISH TAPESTRIES 


In 1720 the King of Spain, Philip V, encouraged Jacques 
Vandergoten of Antwerp to establish in Madrid the Royal — 
Tapestry Factory that is still in operation. The Vander- 
gotens began by copying old sets of tapestries, among others 
the Conquest of Tunis, and the Story of Cyrus. One of the 
most popular of the new designs was the Story of Don Quixote, 
by Andrea Procaccini from the San Michele Tapestry Factory 
of Rome. But the reputation of the Madrid factory rests 
mainly on the tapestries woven in the last quarter of the 
eighteenth century from cartoons by Goya, and Goya’s master 
and father-in-law, Bayeu ( Plates XVI, d, da, db). Most of 
the cartoons and tapestries are still preserved at the Escurial 
and the Pardo. Many of the tapestries, together with several 
teniéres, and several of the Don Quixote set, were shown in 


ENGLISH, SPANISH, AND RUSSIAN TAPESTRIES = 227 


the Tapestry Exhibition at the Hispanic Museum, New York, 
1917. (See the catalogue for illustrations. ) 


RUSSIAN TAPESTRIES 


Peter the Great in 1716 established an Imperial Tapestry 
Factory in St. Petersburg, with French weavers from Beau- 
vais under Béhagle the son. In 1717 Peter visited the Gobe- 
lins in Paris twice, and in commemoration of his visit received 
a set of the Indies. So we are not surprised to find that the most 
important tapestries surviving from the early period of the 
Imperial Russian Tapestry Works, in the Assembly Hall of 
Monplaisir Palace at Peterhof, are copies of the Indies, with 
Peter’s monogram in the middle of the top border. Later 
copies of two of the pieces, with the monogram of the Empress 
Elizabeth in the top border, and with america woven in Rus- 
sian letters in the bottom border of one, and Sait Petersburg, 
year 1759, in the bottom border of the other, were sold at 
Hotel Drouot, March 5, 1918. In 1720 most of the French 
weavers returned to France, and were replaced by Russians 
whom they had taught (See Polovtsoff Russian). In the latter 
half of the eighteenth century, the passion for making tapes- 
tries imitate paint texture prevailed here as in France (Plates 
XVI, e, ea). Lent to the Metropolitan Museum by Miss Alice 
Einstein is a tapestry portrait of the Empress Elizabeth 
signed ‘‘Fait par Rondet a Petersburg, 1760,” Rondet being 
one of five French weavers imported by Elizabeth to help re- 
vive the industry. There was formerly a portrait of Catherine 
the Great, on loan, in the Metropolitan Museum, signed P. BURG, 
1811 c.; the final c. standing for goda, Russian for year; 
and not for Gobelins, as was formerly accepted. In the Royal 
Swedish collection there are a number of tapestry portraits 
made in Russia, some of which are illustrated in Boettiger 
Swedish. In the Moscow Museum of Arms and Armor there 
is one of Peter the Great dated 1840. The Imperial Russian 
Tapestry Factory was discontinued in 1899. 


B 





coves conmnenamemet 0 
en. pe 


S ACTS OF THE APOSTLES WOVEN FOR CHARLES I AT THE 
NATIONAL FRENCH COLLECTION 


PLATE XVI, &.—CURING THE PARALYTIC, ONE OF RAPHAEL’ 


MORTLAKE TAPESTRY WORKS IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 





AGNVIONG “IOOdUMAIT UVUN “LHDIINOS LUOd ‘AUATIVD LUV UAAAT AGVI AHL NI XIS 
@HL JO OML ‘*“NAWIO SIONVYd AM SHYOM AULSAMVL AYVILYUOW AHL YO GANDISHG _‘YRaNVAT ANV OUdH,, JO AYOLS 


ia 


HHL WOUL “AHOLYVdad 8S YHaNVAT ‘LHDIYU AHL NO “IVAINUY S YaaNnvat ‘LAGI AHL NO—'tq ‘q ‘IAX SULVId 











PLATES XVI, C, ca, cb.—UPPER LEFT, LANDSCAPE CHINOISERIE, MADE BY VANDERBANC; 


METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART. 


UPPER RIGHT, THE SWING, MADE BY PAUL SAUNDERS 
OF SOHO, RUCKSELIG. 


BELOW, AIR, DESIGN OF CHARLES LEBRUN, MADE AT THE BEGIN— 


NING OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY IN GREAT QUEEN STREET BY JOHN VANDERBANC. 
P. W. FRENCH & CO. 





PLATES XvI, d, da, db.—UPPER LEFT, “TINY GIANTS,’ DESIGN OF GOYA. 
[UPPER RIGHT, “CHILDREN GATHERING FRUIT,’ DESIGN OF GOYA. BELOW, 
“ORGEAT PEDLAR,” DESIGN OF BAYEU. ALL THREE MADE AT THE MADRID 
TAPESTRY WORKS IN THE LAST HALF OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY, AND] 


ALL NOW IN THE PALACE OF THE ESCURIAL 





ON THE 


PLATES XVi,. €; €2.—ON THE LEFT, PORTRAIT OF JEAN MALDERUS, BISHOP OF ANTWERP, DESIGN OF VAN DYCK. 
RIGHT, HANNAH AND SAMUEL, DESIGN OF REMBRANDT. TAPESTRIES COPIED FROM EASEL PAINTINGS, MADE AT THE ST. PETERSBURG 
TAPESTRY WORKS IN THE LAST HALF OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. BOTH IN THE COLLECTION OF MR. E. J. BERWIND 


SUNOL JO WOGSOW GHL NI YOLLVI AHL {AYANOT AHL NI uaWuOd AHL “(COLI ‘VQLI) SMa ALLAZOD Ad 
SIVOOUd JO NDISHA WOUd SNITHMOD AHL LV NAAOM SAIULSAdVL ANIL HLO@ ‘WUV AHL GNV GOVA AHL LYOLSId GNV NOLLVA 
SIX IVOILUGA AHL MOH GLON ‘SATU ‘TVOILUGA ‘LHDIN AHL NO ‘SdIU IVLNOZINOH “LAAT AHL NO—'ee ‘B ‘IIAX SALVId 





CHAPTER XVII 
TAPESTRY TEXTURE 


PERFECTED TAPESTRIES VS. PRIMITIVE TAPESTRIES. RIBS, HATCH- 
INGS AND SLITS. PERFECTED TAPESTRIES ALWAYS FULL OF HOLES 
GOLD IN TAPESTRIES 


Tuts chapter analyzes the texture of Perfected Tapestries 
(Compare Chapter II). Before the fourteenth century there 
were no Perfected Tapestries. Before the fourteenth century 
there were Primitive Tapestries only. 

The finest tapestries of ancient Egypt (Plate II, b), of 
the Saracenic Middle Ages, of ancient Peru, and of China, 
all belong to the group of Primitive Tapestries. It, remained 
for the French of the fourteenth century at Paris and Arras 
to develop designers and weavers able to manipulate threads 
into the strongest and liveliest contrasts of form, color and 
tone that can be achieved on a flat surface. In the fourteenth 
century: was developed the art of making huge picture cloths 
that hold the mirror up to human life powerfully. 

Nearly all real tapestries have ribs, hatchings, and slits. 
Primitive as well as Perfected Tapestries have ribs, hatch- 
ings, and slits. But between the ribs, hatchings and slits of 
Primitive Tapestries, and the ribs, hatchings and slits of 
Perfected Tapestries, there is a world of difference. 

The surface of all large Perfected Tapestries consists of 
horizontal lines in round relief (ribs), that are most promi- 
nent to the eye in high lights. These ribs are covered with 
fine threads that often combine themselves into vertical spires 
of colour (hatchings) in the middle lights. Heavy shadow 
effects are secured by means of holes (slits) often grouped in 
diagonal series. So that in addition to and superimposed 

229 


230 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


upon the contrasts found in the painted cartoon, we have hori- 
zontal lines in relief, contrasting with vertical lines in colour, 
and with diagonal lines in intaglio. 


TAPESTRY RIBS 


The ribs are the most obvious part of tapestry texture. 
They consist of coarse warps far apart, covered by fine wefts 
close together, in plain weave. Ribs by themselves are stupid. 
The surface of a plain rep is monotonous. But when artfully 
employed as on Plate XVII, ba, to bring the flesh of a portrait 
into relief, they fascinate. . 

On a large part of the surface of a tapestry the ribs are 
obscured, where the colour is dark or there are hatchings, 
or intricate colour pattern, or numerous slits. But contrast 
with the parts where the ribs are obscured makes the ribs 
all the more prominent where they are not obscured. ‘They 
are most prominent in faces and hands and skies, and in the 
high lights of unfigured Gothic draperies. 

The reduction in size necessary for book purposes does not 
usually leave the ribs visible in illustrations of tapestry. But 
on the face and bust of Danae (Plate XVII, ba), and on the 
sky of the landscape of Plate XVH, f, close inspection will 
reveal them, even without a magnifying glass. It will be 
noticed that in Danae the light surfaces push forward by con- 
trast with the dark surfaces, and that in the landscape the dark 
surfaces push forward by contrast with the light surfaces. 
That is to be expected. We get this in drawing and painting. 
Light objects stand out against a dark background, and dark 
objects against a light background. What we do not get in 
drawing and the older school of painting, are ribs in the high | 
lights that by line contrast vastly accentuate the distinction 
between foreground and background. And in modern paint- 
ing, while the brush marks in the thick impasto of the high 
lights often carry out the same principle, the resulting con- 
trasts are by no means as strong and convincing. 


TAPESTRY TEXTURE 231 


The position of the ribs is important. In all great tap- 
estries they are horizontal. When vertical they distort the 
design. This I have illustrated on Plates XVI, a, aa. The 
two tiny tapestries are Gobelins by the same weaver from the 
same design. The tapestry on the left has horizontal ribs; 
the tapestry on the right has vertical ribs. The former is 
excellent. The latter is detestable. 


TAPESTRY HATCHINGS 


The power of tapestry hatchings is due to the fact that 
they have ribs to lean against. Hatchings as employed in 
painting and especially in line engraving are able to render 
service, but are feeble as compared with the hatching of tap- 
estry. First, it should be noted that tapestry hatchings are 
vertical spires of colour at right angles with the ribs. As 
the ribs are always horizontal in important tapestries, the 
hatching's in important tapestries are consequently always ver- 
tical. The moment you see the vertical hatchings on the 
drapery at the right of Plate XVII, c, you know that the ribs 
of that tapestry must be horizontal. 

The main function of tapestry hatchings is to create middle 
lights intermediate in relief between shadows and high lights, 
and by line contrast push shadows and high lights violently 
apart. On Plates XVII, e, f, the clouds formed by hatching 
the light sky are intermediate in distance between the sky and 
the shadowed trees in the foreground. On Plate IV, d, the 
hatchings are in middle light, intermediate between the high 
lights in relief and the shadows in depression. On Plate 
XVII, a, the intermediate position of the hatchings in middle 
relief between high light and shadow is obvious, especially 
around the child’s bonnet. In a word, hatched surfaces are 
almost always middle lights, whether dark on a light ground, 
or light on a dark ground. 

What gives tapestry hatchings their extraordinary power 
is the way in which they contrast with the ribs. The strongest 


232 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


line contrast possible is that between horizontal and perpen- 
dicular. The strongest contrast in architecture is of vertical 
fluted columns with horizontal base and entablature, both 
accentuated by parallel mouldings. The strongest contrast 
in a room is of horizontal floor and ceiling with vertical walls. 
The strongest contrasts in engraving are groups of parallel 
lines perpendicular to each other, such as were employed so 
freely and skilfully by Piranesi. The architectural contrasts 
are inrelief. The engraving contrasts are flat. Tapestry rib 
and hatching contrasts are both round and flat. The hori- 
zontal ribs are in round relief, and the vertical hatchings are in 
flat colour. 

What accentuates the contrast of ribs with hatchings is 
that the hatchings obscure the ribs they cover, thus leaving 
middle light surfaces that look unribbed, which by contrast 
forces the ribs of both shadows and high lights, especially of 
high lights. - The vertical hatchings of tapestry middle lights 
are like the columns of architecture that push the entablature 
(high lights) one way and the base (shadows) the other way. 

This creates the inimitable deep folds of Gothic tapestry 
draperies, at the right of Plate XVII, ¢, and on Plates IV, h, 
ye day JU, ake 

Even sito the draperies are patterned (Plate XVII, b) 
hatchings are still used to force contrast between shadow and 
high light, always with an effect that is multiplied by contrast 
with the ribs of the high lights. 


TAPESTRY SLITS 


Slits skilfully placed are the most vital part of Perfected 
Tapestries. In Primitive Tapestries they are automatic and 
of little value, though usually numerous and very noticeable. 
In Perfected Tapestries they are planned with extraordinary 
intelligence to strengthen diagonal straight and curved out- 
lines, and to introduce spots and blocks of vibrant shadow 
where spots and blocks of shadow help the design. In Primt- 


TAPESTRY TEXTURE 235 


tive Tapestries they come where it is easier for the weaver to 
introduce them, than to leave them out. In Perfected Tapes- 
tries they come where their introduction makes more work 
for the weaver. Consequently lazy and ignorant weavers 
always tend to revert to Primitive weaving. 

Unfortunately it is impossible to illustrate slits adequately 
in any material except tapestry. My halftones by substi- 
tuting spots of black ink for the actual holes of tapestry lose 
most of the powerful effect. But in the foliage of Mrs. Harold 
Pratt’s Early Gothic ‘‘Annunciation’’ (Plate XVII, ¢) which 
is one of the finest examples still surviving of supreme tap- 
estry texture, I think the reader will have little difficulty in 
distinguishing some of the slits. Especially prominent are 
those that mark the main ribs of the wide leaves; that model 
the knots of the tree trunks; and that outline some of the 
spiky leaves at the bottom of the tapestry. Less obvious, 
though vivid in the actual tapestry, are the slits that line the 
leaves of the Golden Tree on Plate XVII, d. Wonderfully 
clear, even in the halftone, are the slits that model the foliage 
and the field of the tree in one of Mr. Rockefeller’s Months of 
Lucas (Plate XVII, f), and give life to the lad climbing the 
tree. Note how the tree with its wealth of slits comes 
opaquely forward by contrast with the ribbed sky that is com- 
paratively free from slits, though saved from opaqueness by 
the few that there are. 

The tree of Plate XVII, d, appears on the right of Plate 
XVII, e. Here the reduction is so great that only the largest 
slits of the foliage are visible. But the effect of all of them 
is seen in the strength of the modeling. Also, the furrows of 
the ploughed field below are so powerfully separated by slits, 
that in the tapestry the slits can be distinguished from across 
the room by anyone who knows what to look for. Also, the 
mountains in the distance are forced into lively relief by the 
slits that mark the different ridges. 


234 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


FINE TAPESTRIES FULL OF HOLES 


All fine tapestries are full of holes. No tapestry that is 
not full of holes can possibly look right or be right. One 
reason that many modern tapestries look flat, and stupid, 
and boardlike, is that the slits are inserted automatically and 
often in the wrong place, and then carefully sewed up after 
the tapestry leaves the loom. Of course the long slits should 
be sewed up, loosely, from the back, without exposing an offen- 
sive series of rentraiture threads over the face of the slit. 
When the slit is sewed up properly, the line of it is stronger 
than the other lines between ribs, as it should be. When the 
slit is broken by the sewing-up threads, it is weaker than the 
other lines between ribs, thus weakening the line of demarca- 
tion between the two colours. 

Slits are of prime importance in modeling flesh. Tapes- 
try faces and hands are hopelessly monotonous and shape- 
less unless developed boldly by the use of slits. The reason 
that many ancient Gothic tapestries have stupid faces is that 
ignorant repairers have with the needle eliminated the slits, 
and with the slits the modeling. 

One of the most splendid illustrations of a slit-modelled 
face is that of King Arthur on Plate III, a. Mr. Mackay’s 
tapestry, of which this face is a detail, dates from the last 
quarter of the fourteenth century. In technique and texture 
it is superior to any other tapestry that has survived from 
the fourteenth century. There are no faces in the Angers 
Apocalypse that equal it. Even in my illustration the slits 
that model the eyes and brow and nose and mouth are visible. 
Those that give life to the hair and beard though richly pres- 
ent in the tapestry are obscured in the illustration. Those 
that outline and border the jeweled collar, and those that 
separate the fingers are prominent. ; 3 

Another face shaped by slits into form and character is 
that of King Priam on Plate V,a. This is a detail from Mr. 


TAPESTRY TEXTURE 235 


Mackay’s brilliant middle-of-the-fifteenth century tapestry 
Hector and Andromache of the famous Trojan War series. 
My illustration has been fortunate in indicating the slits that 
outline and model the eyes and nose, and take away solidity 
from hair and beard. Clearly marked also are the slits that 
line the bottom of Priam’s headdress, and that set forth the 
jeweled band around its crown. 

Another portrait that gets its character from the artfully 
left slits is that of King Priam on Plate XVII, b. This tap- 
estry is of later date and later texture than Hector and And- 
romache, and a century later than King Arthur. The texture, 
though refined to the extreme and able to express delightful 
delicacies of gradation and contrast, lacks the boldness and 
freedom of the texture of King Arthur. No longer do the 
wefts achieve variation by wandering diagonally or even in 
diagonal curves. Strictly they are held to the vertical posi- 
tion, and to absolutely regular parallelism. But what they 
miss by having lost freedom of direction is largely compen- 
sated for by increased power of expression due to an even 
freer placing of slits than in King Arthur. Effects that in 
Harly Gothic tapestries were secured by twisting wefts, are in 
Late Gothic tapestries often secured by twisting series of slits. 

Note, in the face of King Priam on Plate XVII, b, the slits 
that model the eye, opening in curves below it, as well as the 
slits that shape the mouth, and the little group of slits bringing 
the nose prominently forward. Note also the line of slits at 
the right of the nose, separating it definitely from the rest 
of the face. 

The face of Danae on Plate XVII, ba, being in profile, less 
modeling for roundness and fewer slits are necessary. But 
even here, the eye, the nose, the chin, are by slits shadowed 
apart from the adjacent flesh, while the atmospheric quality of 
the shoulders above, and of the space between arm and breast, 
is due to the vibrancy of the slit-stippled surfaces. 


236 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


Groups of faces that testify to the power of properly placed 
slits are those on Plates V, d, e, g. 

Without the highly developed use of slits, hands are flat and 
flabby, like those of most modern tapestries. A fine example 
of a slit-modeled hand is that of Priam on Plate XVII, b. Here 
the lines of slits are sc prominent that they are obvious even 
in my halftone. Note how the hand and fingers are outlined 
and shadowed with slits giving the feel of bones that hold, of 
flesh that softens, and of veins that darken. Note also the 
hands in Plates V, d, e, g. 

In the development of hair and beard, skilfully placed slits 
are imperative. By the use of slits, hair is given the fascinating 
softness and looseness and openness of actual hair. The hair 
of Danae on Plate XVII, ba, and the hair and beard of Priam — 
on Plate XVII, b, are almost as lacelike as the foliage of 
Plates XVII, ¢, f. 

Slits are important in the weaving of patterned robes. 
While some of them come automatically in the weaving, the 
automatic ones seldom come sufficiently, and not always where 
they should. Priam’s robe and the drapery behind his head 
on Plate XVII, b, are alive with tiny slits that outline the 
design, and at the same time give it atmosphere and vibrancy. 

While many tapestries that are full of holes are bad, it 
may be regarded as an axiom that no tapestry that is not full 
of holes is worth while. A Perfected Tapestry lighted from 
the front and seen from the back, shines like the midnight sky 
through thousands of tiny holes. Seen from the front it is 
stippled with thousands of tiny black spots, and with short 
black lines that are slits. | 

Ribs, hatchings and slits! These in skilful combination 
give Perfected Tapestries their wonderful texture and vibrant 
atmosphere, making large Gothic tapestries superior to any 
other monumental form of flat art. Tapestry texture is the 
most necessary part of tapestries, and tapestries that attempt 


TAPESTRY TEXTURE 237 


on the loom to substitute paint texture are bound to miss the 
mark, as do most modern tapestries. 


TAPESTRY MATERIALS 


The texture of tapestries varies according to the materials 
_ employed. Wool makes an elastic warp that adapts itself to 
refinements of weft-placing, but unless handled with great 
care, is apt to produce cloths of crooked shape. Linen and 
cotton warps are stiffer and easier to keep even. For wefts, 
wool is the fundamental material. Without wool, Perfected 
Tapestries could never have been created. Silk which shows 
to such advantage in satins, damasks, and brocades, is stupid 
when used by itself in tapestry, and entirely flat and inefficient 
in the interpretation of large pictures. Chinese tapestries 
demonstrate the best that can be accomplished with all- 
silk wefts. 

Silk tapestries are much thinner than woolen ones. The 
thickest tapestries are those made entirely of coarse wool. 

In Early Gothic tapestries the ribs are farther apart, and 
consequently flatter and less pronounced than later. The 
wefts being of two strands loosely spun, show flat and double. 
The lines formed by wefts, slits, and ribs, are much coarser, 
in Gothic tapestries than thereafter. 

The basis of tapestry texture is line contrast. Whoever 
tries to make great tapestries in paint texture is sure to fail. 

Modern woolen yarns are too soft and fuzzy. Most modern 
tapestries have too even a surface. The ribs are too close 
together. 

While many Early Gothic tapestries had weft surfaces 
entirely of wool, French weavers soon discovered that the use 
of silk and wool gives opportunity by contrast of materials to 
heighten the powerful contrasts of ribs, hatchings and slits. 
Though the proportion of silk to wool varies at different 
periods and places, it may be laid down as a general principle 
that tapestry faces and hands and other flesh are in wool, 


238 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


except where touched with red silk to accentuate lips and com- 
plexion; and that écru and dull and dark colours are apt to 
be in wool, while delicate golden-yellows, blues, greens, and 
roses are apt to be in silk. Sometimes the faces of Late 
Gothic and of Renaissance tapestries were touched up with 
pastels, as is shown by Flemish Renaissance government and 
craft regulations permitting it under restrictions. But as a 
rule tapestries in all ages have relied upon loom contrasts. 
An important exception are Chinese silk tapestries whose 
blacks are often put in with the brush. Another exception are 
German Gothics that occasionally secure variety of texture 
by outlining eyebrows and other details with embroidery, 
and inserting blocks of velvet in Oriental rug knot. 

As the records show, gold was used lavishly in fine 
tapestries of the fourteenth century. But owing to the fragil-_ 
ity of the gold tinsel, the earlier large tapestries enriched with 
gold have perished. Mr. Rockefeller’s Unicorn set shows the 
brilliant effects that Gothic weavers understood how to secure 
with a little gold. The highest point of gold weaving, with 
understanding of how to take advantage of gold-and-metal and 
silk-and-metal contrasts, was attained in religious tapestries 
like the Mazarin, and the Royal Spanish Virgin Late Gothic 
picture cloths made in Brussels under Philip and Joanna 
(1496-1506) ; and in Early Renaissance Van Orleys, like Mr. 
Philip Lehman’s Last Supper, made a little later at the same 
place under Margaret of Austria. The gold and the silver 
were used in the form of silk threads spirally wound with 
silver ribbon, the silver being gilded for gold, and sometimes 
losing most of the gilding with time. The gold effects are 
most apt to be found in the garments of the personages, (Plate 
S, d, of Subscribers’ Edition), in jewelry and armor (Plate 
VIII, a), in the columns and arches of architecture, and in the 
lettering of names. Gold requires supreme skill on the part of 
the weaver. Gold and silver inserted casually or carelessly 
or unintelligently, spoil a tapestry. Gold as employed in most 


TAPESTRY TEXTURE 239 


Renaissance tapestries adds shine and sheen while obscuring 
the design. This is obvious in those of the Medici Works at 
Florence, as well as in those of the Royal Spanish collection 
from Brussels. The gold of Mortlake tapestries has usually 
gone black because of the poor gilding of the silver ribbon. The 
last important attempt to use gold in tapestries was in Louis 
XIV Gobelins. In some of them gold was inserted effectively, 
but sparingly and without inspiration. 

An interesting feature of tapestry texture is that tapes- 
try pictures go all the way through. The picture on the back, 
after shaving off the loose loops of thread that mark the tran- 
sition of bobbin from block to block of the same colour, ts the 
same as the picture on the face, except of course that it is 
left-handed. Two of the Seven Sacraments tapestries in the 
Metropolitan Museum of Art are mounted wrong-side out. 
I find that few members of my tapestry classes are able to tell 
which, until specially instructed. Nevertheless, most tapes- 
tries do show differences in detail between face and back, 
usually small but often significant. The back of a tapestry, 
even when clipped close, is apt to be unkempt as compared 
with the face. 


DEGENERATION OF TAPESTRY TEXTURE 


Gothic designs lend themselves to tapestry texture. In 
Gothic designs, grounds are tipped up and forward so that the 
middle-ground figures, and sometimes the figures all the way 
up to the top of the tapestry, as in the Metropolitan Museum’s 
Rose Garden tapestries, are like columns continuing the ver- 
tical lines of the figures of the foreground. In Gothic tapes- 
try designs, vertical lines are domimant. The line structure 
of tapestry texture makes it efficient to create in Gothic designs 
the vigorous contrasts necessary in monumental pictures. 
Only in Late Gothic tapestries do horizontal lines due to Italian 
influence, begin to upset the clarity of Gothic composition, 


and weaken the contrasts of ribs, hatchings, and slits. 
17 


240 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


At the end of the fifteenth century tapestry texture began 
to degenerate. The tapestries of coarse weave no longer have 
the vigor of the earlier ones. Many of the tapestries of fine 
weave have faces utterly without character. After 1510 the 
degeneration is rapid. The Dreicer Crucifixion in the Metro- 
politan Museum is hack work as compared with the Virgin 
tapestry of the Altman collection. The Notre Dame de Sablon 
set of the Spitzer collection (Plate 79 of Hunter 1912) is rough 
and crude as compared with the great Gothic Credo and Sal- 
vation sets. The Vatican Acts of the Apostles after Raphael, 
despite its gold and despite the genius that inspired the car- 
toons, is far inferior to the monumental Gothic religi- 
ous tapestries. 

The difference is a difference mainly of texture, though 
largely caused by the different character of the designs. 
Renaissance cartoons are not as suitable as Gothic for repro- 
duction in tapestries. The lowering of the skyline and the 
development of perspective produce compositions harder to 
handle in tapestry technique than in paint technique. 

In the seventeenth century, designs become Baroque and 
sculptural. Heavy shadows take the place of texture and 
colour contrasts. Baroque designs are less suitable than any 
others for reproduction in tapestry. 

The best tapestries of the seventeenth century are Louis 
XIV Gobelins. In them the exaggerations of Baroque are 
refined under the early sixteenth century Italian Renaissance 
influence that reasserted itself in France at the beginning of 
the reign of Louis XIV. This influence was felt in Brussels 
largely by reflection from the Gobelin (For example, the New 
York Public Library’s Parnassus). 

The best tapestry texture of the eighteenth century is that 
of Beauvais-Bouchers. The Beauvais weavers seem by the 
decorative compositions of Boucher to have been thrilled to 
outdo themselves. On a tiny scale they redeveloped many of 


TAPESTRY TEXTURE 241 


the effects of Gothic tapestry texture. At the Gobelins also, 
especially as illustrated in Mr. Rockefeller’s Months of Lucas, 
the weavers were inspired to make tapestries of texture far 
superior to those of the original Months of Lucas of the Brus- 
sels Renaissance. 

The period of Louis XVI saw another degeneration of tap- 
estry texture, and the final one. The passion for gentleness 
and flatness and simplicity, made strong contrasts unpalatable. 
Since then no great tapestries have been made. 





© ere 








PLATES XVI, b, ba.—ON THE LEFT, DETAIL, PORTRAIT OF PRIAM, FROM ONE OF A SET OF FOUR GOTHIC HELEN OF 
TROY TAPESTRIES; DUVEEN BROS. ON THE RIGHT, PORTRAIT OF DANAE, FROM THE FRENCH RENAISSANCE DANAE TAPESTRY 
OF THE FONTAINEBLEAU MYTHOLOGICAL SET IN THE NATIONAL AUSTRIAN COLLECTION 





S EARLY 


) 


HAROLD PRATT 


C.—FOLIAGE DETAIL FROM MRS. 


b 


PLATE XVII 


”) 


GOTHIC ‘“‘ANNUNCIATION 





PLATE XVII, d.—THE GOLDEN TREE, DETAIL FROM ONE OF A SET OF FOUR 
HELEN OF TROY TAPESTRIES; DUVEEN BROS. NOTE ESPECIALLY THE STEPPED SLITS OF 


TRUNK AND FOLIAGE 





PLATE XVII, €.—LANDSCAPE DETAIL OF ONE OF MR. ROCKEFELLER’S GOBELIN MONTHS OF LUCAS 








—TEXTURE DETAIL FROM TAPESTRY OPPOSITE 


f 


) 


PLATE XVII 





PLATES XVIII, a, aa, ab.—FIFTEENTH CENTURY MANUSCRIPT 
PICTURES OF THE NINE PREUX, WITH THEIR COATS-OF—ARMS: HECTOR, 
ALEXANDER, CAESAR, JOSHUA, DAVID, JUDAS MACCABEUS, ARTHUR, 
CHARLEMAGNE, GODFREY DE BOUILLON 


CHAPTER XVIII 
TAPESTRY DESIGN 


DESIGNS OF GOTHIC TAPESTRIES. AUTHORS VS. PAINTERS, LITERARY 

SOURCES OF THE DESIGNS. DESIGNERS AND CARTOONISTS, AND THEIR 

SIGNATURES. JEAN DE BRUXELLES ALIAS JEAN DE ROME. OWNERS 

AND DONORS. ARMORIALS. PORTRAITS. COSTUMES. FLORA AND 
FAUNA. STYLES OF DESIGN 


PERFECTED TAPESTRIES are an aristocratic art. They were 
developed in the fourteenth century for nobles and kings 
whose language and culture were French. Only in churches 
and cathedrals could the multitude see them. 

Perfected tapestries were not a popular art based on folk 
tales, and created by provincial artists and weavers. ‘They 
were arich man’s art elaborated for the decoration of palatial 
castles, and for the delectation and comfort of the aristoc- 
racy. They adorned the walls, and kept out the cold. 

The stories and the designs were based on the illustrated 
books of the period, mainly French but sometimes Latin, books 
so expensive that only millionaires and monasteries could 
afford them. 

The common people did not count. They were like the 
dumb beasts of the field. Though the home language of many 
of the designers and weavers was Flemish, we never find Flem- 
ish inscriptions on Gothic tapestries. The designers were 
working not for themselves, but for aristocrats who desired 
to extend the influence and memory, not of the artists and 
weavers, but of themselves. Gothic tapestries pictured vividly 
the life of the French nobility of the period, and this just as 
much when the stories are ancient as when they are modern. 
Typical illustrations of this are Mr. Rockefeller’s Unicorn set, 
and the great Trojan War group. The personages in both 

243 


244 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


are knights and ladies of the fifteenth century, with an 
air of antiquity given to the Trojan War series by occa- 
sional archaicisms. 

While the common people did not count, the Church did. 
The language of priests and of the learned professions was 
Latin. Often on tapestries made for cathedrals and convents, 
and sometimes also on religious tapestries made for private 
chapels and palaces, the inscriptions were in Latin alone. 
Often inscriptions were in both Latin and French—French at 
the top of the tapestries and Latin at the bottom, as 
in the Trojan War group. Often the inscriptions were in 
French alone. 

However, there was a popular side to Gothic Religious 
Tapestries, which affected also the design of Gothic Historical 
and Country Life tapestries. This popular side was a spec- 
tacular side. It was a side due to the influence of the stage 
—of the mystery plays that in the fifteenth century were even 
more popular than the movies are now, and vastly more thrill- 
ing. What could possibly grip an audience of believers who 
were also sinners, like a vivid portrayal of Adam by his sin 
bringing woe upon us all; the prophets of the Old Testament 
foretelling the arrival of a Saviour to redeem Man; Christ 
born of a Virgin giving His life on the Cross that we might be 
saved; all this with awe-inspiring stage scenery—God, Himself 
with angels in Heaven above; Satan and his devils in Hell 
below, with flames spouting out of the mouth of Hell; the 
Earth a wide platform, with different sections marked each 
with its name—Paris, Rome, Jerusalem, Egypt, the Wilder- 
ness—and with scenery painted to suggest landscape and 
architecture. Just as in the eighteenth century, the scenery 
of Opera gave ‘‘pep’’ and charm to the pictures of Boucher 
and Coypel, so in the fifteenth, the scenery and action of the 
stage put passion and conviction into the huge cloths of the 
Credo and Salvation sets (See Chapter IV). 

The conventions of Gothic tapestry design were wonder- 


TAPESTRY DESIGN 245 


fully suited to the capabilities of the tapestry loom. Nowa- 
days the earnest and enthusiastic efforts of the personnel of 
the Gobelins are exhausted in the effort to reproduce cartoons 
which are considered successful in proportion as they conform 
to the paint technique of the moment. In the fourteenth and 
fifteenth centuries, designers and weavers avoided what was 
hard to do in tapestry, but with marvelous ingenuity took 
every advantage of the extraordinary possibilities of tapes- 
try texture. Cartoons were produced utterly different from, 
though possible because of, the paintings of the period, by 
painters whose job it was, not to glorify themselves, but to 
get results. Backgrounds were tipped up as on Plate V, ¢, so 
that there were no empty expanses of air and sky. Ornament 
was applied to all plain surfaces so that every inch of the 
surface was interesting. 


AUTHORS VS. DESIGNERS 


The autHor of Gothic.tapestries was not the painter who 
made the original sketches or executed the full-size cartoons. 
It was the writer who composed the scenario and the inscrip- 
tions (Plates XVIII, f, fa). What was true of tapestries was 
also true of Gothic illuminated manuscripts, and in accord- 
ance with the precedent set by them. The aurHor who com- 
posed the text and printed it in beautiful letters with his own 
hand, was vastly more important than the painter who under 
the auTHoR’s direction did the illustrations. The aurHor was 
the originator, and the creator, and the architect, to whom 
credit for the book or the set of tapestries was allowed as a 
matter of course (Plate XVIII, b). The painter played the 
part of the modern illustrator of a. popular novel, or of the 
photographer who records on the film the ideas of the auTHoR 
of the scenario, as made into pictures by the actors of the 
cinema. In later centuries as the aurHor’s function came 
more and more to be assumed by the painter, the story interest 
of tapestries declined. They began to look like what they 


246 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


were—pictures based on reference books, instead of on sce- 
narios composed by literary masters. Nowadays the ignorance 
of many painters and some critics, regards as a virtue the 
absence from pictures of illustrative interest. 


LITERARY SOURCES OF THE DESIGNS 


The stories on which Gothic tapestries were based, were 
Romantic stories. This applies quite as much to Historical 
and Religious tapestries as to those that have their origin 
in the Chanson de Roland and other chansons de geste. 

These chansons de geste (Consult Bédier Epiques) were 
not assemblages of popular songs and tales from the time of 
Charlemagne. They were imaginative creations, full of relig- 
ious fervor, inspired by the contemporary crusades against 
the Saracens—especially those of Southern France and Spain 
__with whom all other non-Christian enemies were more or less 
confused. From the age of Charlemagne, the chansons de geste 
borrowed little but the names of the principal personages, and 
an historic background strangely unlike the real one. Charle- 
magne and his knights they transformed into eleventh and 
twelfth century crusaders, with the customs and costumes of 
the eleventh and twelfth centuries. 

The monasteries on the road to Spain, whose prosperity 
depended upon visits of pilgrims and crusading knights, were 
hotbeds of Romance. Local legends were by French poets 
expanded into long romances that not only olorified the repu- 
tation of the monasteries for sanctity and good works, but 
often attributed their foundation and endowment to the piety 
of Charlemagne and his entourage. The Army and the Church 
were thrilled by a common ambition—to crush the Saracens 
and recover the Holy Places. So far was the Present—and 
even the Future—projected into the Past, that the single short 
campaign of Charlemagne in Spain was floriated into several 
long ones, and he was made to conduct adventuresome expedi- 
tions (that have no basis in fact) to Constantinople and even 


TAPESTRY DESIGN Q47 


to Jerusalem. Also Charlemagne, who had been as much Ger- 
man as French, with the accent on the German, was trans- 
formed into a French monarch, whose deeds glorified France 
and whose heart was French. 

What the chansons de geste sang, French crusaders justi- 
fied. Latin remained the international language of the Church, 
but French became the international language of Society and 
of Chivalry. The Normans made French the aristocratic lan- 
guage of England and Sicily and Southern Italy. The leader- 
ship of the Crusades for the recovery of Jerusalem was so 
largely French that for centuries the people of the Eastern 
Mediterranean designated Westerners as Franks. The French 
romances were recited, even before translation, in Italy and 
Germany, as well as in Spain and England. Some of the 
chansons de geste were composed, not in the French of Paris, 
but in the French of Normandy and England. 

Ancient history was rewritten in the style of the chansons 
de geste. But with less imagination and with more history. 
Much of the history, however, was already romantic, made so 
by the Greeks of the Orient, Latin translations of whose works 
supplied material to French poets. 

The great Gothic Alexander tapestries are based not on 
the classic writers of Greece and Rome, but on the second cen- 
tury fabulous Greek history of Alexander by the Pseudo- 
Callisthenes, as developed by French poets from versions in 
Latin. The great Gothic Trojan War tapestries are based, 
not on Homer, but on Benoit de Sante Maure’s twelfth century 
Roman de Troie, that claimed as its sources Dictys the Cretan 
and Dares the Phrygian, the former a Greek, the latter a Tro- 
jan, reputed eyewitnesses of the events they chronicled. 

However, the authors of fifteenth century tapestries were 
apt to use, not the original poems of the twelfth and thirteenth 
centuries, but fourteenth or fifteenth century versions, edited 
and abbreviated or expanded, with the addition of other mate- 
rial assembled from heterogeneous sources, As is indicated by 


248 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


the ‘‘Death of Philip’’ scene, the aurHor of the Doria Alex- 
ander tapestries used, not the early thirteenth century poem 
of Lambert le Tort, Alexandre de Bernay, and Pierre de Saint 
Cloud, published at Stuttgart in 1846 by H. Michelant, but 
some fifteenth century compilation such as Jean Wauquelin’s 
Livre des conquestes et faits d’ Alexandre le Grant made for 
Philip the Good’s relative, the Count d’Htampes (Page 143 of 
Doutrepont Bourgogne) or, availing himself of the resources 
of the library of the Duke of Burgundy—among them the great 
fourteenth century Latin Encyclopedia of Vincent de Beau- 
vais—did his own selecting and editing from numerous manu- 
script volumes. 

The scenes of the Gothic Trojan War tapestries, while 
following in a general way the original text of Benoit de Sainte 
Maure’s Roman de Troie, as well as the abbreviated and modi- 
fied text of the fourteenth century Frénch prose version, differ 
here and there from both to such an extent as to indicate that 
the autuor of the tapestries (See the last scene of Plate V, c) 
leaned on later versions such as the French translation 
of Guido da Colonna’s Historia Destructions Trove, itself 
plagiarized from Benoit de Sainte Maure; perhaps also 
on Jacques Millet’s Mystére de Troie (Pages 567-574 of 
Volume II of Julleville Mystéres); copies of both of which 
were in the library of Philip the Good (Page 486 of Doutre- 
pont Bourgogne). 

The authors of Gothic religious tapestries found much mate- 
rial in the Vulgate, extracts from which appear on the scrolls 
of the Prophets in the great Gothic Salvation and Credo series 
(Chapter IV). But they found more in the voluminous Latin 
theological literature in prose and verse, as well as in the four- 
teenth century Latin Encyclopedia of Vincent de Beauvais, 
and in the picturesque Lives of the Saints, many of which had 
been developed locally to spread the glory of churches and 
monasteries founded by, or consecrated to, aforesaid Saints. 
A popular version of the more important of these Lives 


TAPESTRY DESIGN 249 


was Giacomo da Voragine’s thirteenth century Legenda Aurea 
(Golden Legend), which was accessible in French translation. 
The Golden Legend was employed especially in the creation 
of provincial religious tapestries, where the AUTHOR Was one 
of the local priests or monks. Other popular sources were the 
Speculum Humane Salvationis (Lutz and Perdrizet, Mul- 
house, 1907) and the Biblia Pauperum (Heitz and Schreiber, 
Strasburg, 1903) whose illustrations can be seen reproduced 
in the Reims Virgin and in the La Chaise Dieu Christ (Pages 
949, 251 of Male Fifteenth). The Lives of the Saints, in 
Latin, are accessible in the New York Public Library, in 
the monumental tomes published by the Bollandist Fathers 
at Antwerp and Brussels, in the seventeenth century and later. 
The Angers Apocalypse was based on illustrated manuscripts 
of the Apocalypse, one of them lent for the purpose to the 
Duke of Anjou, by the French King Charles VI. 

Ag the Renaissance approached tapestries became less and 
less Romantic. Writers like Jean Lemaire de Belges con- 
tinued to use the medieval sources. The Beauvais Kings of 
Gaul, with views of French cities in the background, is based 
on one of his books that continues the Romantic traditions of 
the Gothic Past. But the tendency was away from Romance 
and Religion, back to the ancient classic authors as we know 
them, and to allegorical patchwork like that of the Spanish 
Honors and Moralities. The Apocalypse tapestries of the 
Royal Spanish collection are dead and stupid, compared with 
the Early Gothic Apocalypse of Angers. 

During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, tapes- 
tries become constantly less Romantic and less Christian, and 
constantly more Pagan and more Classic. 

’ In the eighteenth century the ancient stories again had 
life put into them (De Troy’s Esther, Boucher’s Loves of the 
Gods, Boucher’s Psyche). The last was based on Lafon- 
taine’s charming version of the Psyche story anciently told in 
Latin by Apuleius. Lafontaine also supplied other up-to-date 


250 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


material in his Fables, which were pictured delightfully by 
Oudry. (Chapter XI). Another author favored by eigh- 
teenth century tapestry designers of Brussels and Madrid, 
as well as by Charles Coypel at the Gobelins, was Cervantes, 
whose Don Quixote is immortal. 

Contemporary and recent history was also a source for 
authors and cartoonists, especially when they wished to glorify 
the deeds of Kings and Nobles. (Tunis set, and Victories of 
the Archduke Albert, in the Royal Spanish collection; Vic- 
tories of the Duke of Alba, in the collection of the Duke of 
Alba; Story of the King in the great Louis XIV set of 
the Gobelins). 

Petrarch, with his Lawra, fathered not only the Gothic 
Triumphs in the National Austrian collection, and those of 
entirely different design at Hampton Court and in the Vic- 
toria and Albert Museum, but also Renaissance sets on the 
same subject, notably the one in the Royal Spanish collec- 
tion. To Petrarch’s Africa we owe Giulio Romano’s Scipio, 
so often woven at the Gobelins, as well as in the sixteenth 
and seventeenth centuries at Brussels. Xenophon’s Cyro- 
pedia gave numerous different sets on the Story of Cyrus 
the Great. 

During all these periods Ovid’s Metamorphoses were pic- 
tured repeatedly, by Oudry and by Boucher as well as by the 
designers of the Renaissance. Notable Renaissance examples 
are the Vertumnus and Pomona sets in the Royal Spanish and 
National Austrian, and French & Co. collections. The last 
of these sets is the one that was formerly in the Berwick and 
Alba collection. 

DESIGNERS AND CARTOONISTS 

Our information about the designers and cartoonists of 
Gobelin tapestries is almost complete (Chapters IX, XII; and 
Fenaille Gobelins). We are fairly well informed about the 
designers of ancient Beauvais tapestries (Chapter XI). We 


TAPESTRY DESIGN 251 


know much about the design sources, and something about the 
cartoonists of Aubusson tapestries (Chapter XIII). We are 
able to identify the designers of many of the important Renais- 
sance and seventeenth century sets of Brussels (Chapters VIII, 
X). There are also still in existence many of the small 
sketches—Giulio Romano’s Scipio, and at least one of his 
Children Playing (Plate XVIII, ia); Bernard van Orley’s 
Pavia (Plate XVIII, i) and Hunts of Maximilian; some of 
Rubens’ Achilles, and other sets by Rubens. There are also 
preserved some of the full-sized cartoons, principally of Gobe- 
lin and Spanish tapestries; but the most important are those 
of Raphael’s Acts of the Apostles at the Victoria and Albert 
Museum; (Plates XVIII, j, ja; VIII, f); next in importance, 
the Decius paintings of Rubens in the Liechtenstein collection. 
But about the names as well as the personalities of the 
designers and cartoonists of Gothic tapestries, we are woe- 
fully ignorant. 

Thanks to the brilliant work of the late Jules Guiffrey, 
the cartoonist of the Angers Apocalypse was established as 
the King’s painter, Hennequin de Bruges. Joseph Destrée 
revealed Jean de Bruxelles, alias Jean de Rome, as the 
designer, and Maitre Philippe as the cartoonist, of the Brus- 
sels Cinquentenaire Museum’s Herkinbald. We know that 
Philip the Good’s great set of the Golden Fleece, no longer 
in existence, was cartooned by Baudouin de Bailleul. We 
know that the Louvre’s ‘‘Saint Luke painting the Virgin”’ 
was copied from one of Roger van der Weyden’s paintings 
still in existence, and we have literary evidence to prove that 
the Berne Museum’s Trajan and Herkinbald was based on now 
destroyed paintings of the same master. We have the names 
of other Gothic painters who are known to have designed and 
eartooned tapestries. We have small colour sketches at 
the Louvre, which have been claimed as the original sketches 
for the great Gothic Trojan War series, but which seem to me 
rough copies. | 


252 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


Nevertheless, the pictures of most Gothic tapestries are 
anonymous. We can compare them with manuscript illustra- 
tions to which they show relationship, and with paintings 
that they resemble in style, but the results of such comparison 
are small. The technique of Gothic tapestries is so different 
from paint technique, as to indicate that the full-size cartoons 
were made by painters of special knack and training, among 
whom were probably some of the painters of the Gothic manu- 
scripts and easel paintings that have come down to us. My 
identification of Gerard David as the designer and cartoonist 
of the Spanish Virgin set, is merely a suggestion. But I 
read with interest and respect what Joseph Destrée has to say 
about Juste de Ghent and Maitre Philippe. 


JEAN DE BRUXELLES ALIAS JEAN DE ROME 


Here we have the Atlantis of the Tapestry World. As is 
known by everybody, many Gothic tapestries have long 
inscriptions made up of series of letters that do not combine 
into words, and that are apparently ornamental only. It has 
been asserted that wherever in such tapestries, whether dating 
from 1460 or 1520, we find the letters RoM, MOR, IRON, ROEM, , 
ROOM, REOON, etc.; we have the signature of the painter who 
appears, several times on the account books of Margaret of 
Austria as Jean de Bruxelles, and once as ‘‘ Jean de Bruxelles 
otherwise called Jean de Rome.’’? Monsieur F. de Mély bol- 
sters up the theory by finding IAN ROME on a manuscript paint- 
ing of the Heures de la Princesse de Cory. Gobel on Page 407 
of Volume I of his Wandteppiche makes a rather futile attempt 
to explain the double name, Jean de Bruxelles alias Jean de 
Rome. Many of the supposed signatures were reproduced by 
Thiéry in his Inscriptions et Signatures de Jean de Brucelles 
(Louvain 1907). Marquet de Vasselot and Hermann Schmidt 
have handled the theory with discretion, but more sympa- 
thetically than it deserves. The only adequate and reasonable 
presentation of the facts was by Joseph Destrée in his M atre 


TAPESTRY DESIGN 253 


Philippe a propos de Jean de Bruzelles dit van Room (Brus- 
sels, 1904). Plates XVIII, e, ea, show two instances, where 
the letters do really seem to suggest a signature. ‘The incor- 
rect spelling is held to help the theory, because testifying to 
- the ignorance of the weavers. 

To me it seems probable that the Jean de Bruxelles men- 
tioned in the accounts of Margaret of Austria was Jean 
Mostaert, who was crowded out as court painter in 1018 by 
Bernard van Orley. If Mostaert was responsible for the 
Brussels Herkinbald and similar tapestries from 1506 to 1516, 
it is easy to understand why he was replaced by the designer 
of the great Van Orley Passion set. Mostaert’s relations to 
Margaret of Austria had long been so close (‘‘Nostre aimé 
maitre Jean de Bruxelles’’ in 1516) as to explain why he should 
—once only and that in 1510—be jokingly addressed as Jean 
de Bruxelles, otherwise called ‘‘de Rome.’’ 

I should not be surprised to have it develop later that Van 
Orley worked at first wnder Mostaert. Several of the Brus- 
sels tapestries made about 1515 suggest the arrival of a car- 
toonist with more ability than the head designer, and some 
of the faces look like Van Orley’s work. 


OWNERS AND DONORS 


The owner or donor for whom important work was executed 
often perpetuated his memory as the First Cause of the Tap- 
estries, by having his name appear in an inscription (See 
the Beauvais Saint Peter set, Chapter IV; Mortlake Vul- 
can and Venus, Louis XIV Story of the King) ; his coat-of- 
arms woven into the cloth (See the, Louis XIV set, and 
also the Angers Apocalypse, the Brady Visit of the Gipsies, 
the Reims Virgin, and the Reims Saint Remi, and many 
Gobelins made for the King); or his portrait, with that of his 
wife if he had one, introduced as the most effective signature of 
all (See the Kahn ‘‘Training the Falcon,’’ the Valencia mar- 
riage tapestry at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, the Notre 


254 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


Dame de Sablon tapestry in the Brussels Cinquentenaire 
Museum, the Pierre de Rohan musical tapestry at Angers, the 
Brussels and Gobelin Months of Lucas). I suspect that the 
bearded personage in the last scene of Plate XVIII, fa, and the 
man labeled puter in the Brussels Deposition, may also be 
portraits of the donor. 


ARMORIALS 


Often tapestries were decorative armorials, without story 
or personages (Plate XVIII, c) ; the two Margaret of Austria 
armorials at the Bruges Toison d’Or Exhibition, 1907; many 
Gobelins, the Duke of Alba’s Columbus tapestries (Plate 
XVIII, ha). Sometimes the monogram also appears (Plate 
XVIII, d). The monogram is common on the shields in the 
border corners of Gobelins made for the King. The mono- 
eram still testifies to the fact that Mr. Rockefeller’s Months 
of Lucas (Plates XII, b, c¢, d) were made for Alexander, 
Count of Toulouse, son of Louis XIV and Madame de Monte- 
span. Sometimes ancient personages bear their coats-of- 
arms (Plates III, b; XVIII, g). Compare the manuscript 
pictures of the Nine Preux on Plates XVIII, a, aa, ab. 


PORTRAITS 


Sometimes we find portraits of contemporaries; Francis I 
and many others in the Naples Pavia set, and in the Fontaine- 
bleau set of the National Austrian collection; the whole Habs- 
burg family in the Brussels Cinquentenaire Museum’s Notre 
Dame de Sablon; Louis XII and Philip the Handsome and. 
others in the Valenciennes Tournament tapestry (Plate XVIII, 
ba); Charles V and many others in the Tunis set of the Royal 
Spanish collection; Maximilian and Charles V in the Louvre 
Hunts of Maximilian; Louis XIV and many others in the 
Gobelin Story of the King; Louis XV and many others in the 
Hunts of Louis XV. 

Sometimes we find portraits of the designer; Vermeyen 


TAPESTRY DESIGN 255 


in the Tunis set, Oudry in the Hunts of Louis XV. Sometimes 
we find the signature of the designer: 1. van scHoor on Louis 
XIV Brussels, F. Boucher on Beauvais-Bouchers, [. F'. Roman- 
elli on the Medici Story of Dido, Oudry on the Hunts of 
Louis XV. 

COSTUMES 


Costumes help to distinguish tapestries of different peri- 
ods. In the Gothic tapestries all fine gentlemen were clean- 
shaven—Philip the Good, Charles the Bold, Charles VII, 
Henry VI, Henry VII, Louis XI, Maximilian. In the middle of 
the fifteenth century they wore short hair and long-pointed 
shoes. Towards the end of the century the hair lengthened 
and the shoe-toes shortened and rounded. Beards in Gothic 
tapestries were used only on ancient or provincial personages, 
and not always then. 

In the sixteenth century all gentlemen wore full beards 
(Charles V, Francis I, Henry VIII, Henri II). At first the 
beards and the toes of shoes were absurdly wide, sleeves and 
knickerbockers balloon-shaped and full of slashes, as were also 
breast and back of coats, and even shoes, About the middle 
of the century, beards became pointed, degenerating into 
goatees in the first half of the seventeenth (Richelieu), with 
moustaches prominent. Louis XIV who set the fashion in the 
last half of the century was cleanshaven, and wore long flow- 
ing curls that degenerated into a wig, with age. 

In Gothic tapestries, even those picturing ancient history, 
most of the personages looked just like contemporaries. In 
Renaissance tapestries, ancient personages, and sometimes 
contemporary ones, were pictured in what they thought the 
ancient Romans wore. In the seventeenth century, the Classi- 
cism continued, but in the eighteenth century the ancients were 
up-to-dated again, only to relapse into pseudo-antiquity in 
the period of Louis XVI. 


The flora of Gothic tapestries is contemporary and vivid, 
18 


256 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


as is the fauna, even the mythical animals. The favorite tex- 
tile pattern on tapestries of the last half of the fifteenth cen- 
tury was the pomegranate, with actual pomegranate trees 
introduced into out-of-door scenes. The flora of the sixteenth 
and seventeenth centuries is more formal, and larger in scale, 
and less interesting. The flora of the eighteenth century is 
fascinating, especially as drawn by Boucher and Jacques 
and Tessier. 7 

The designs of the different periods, as stated elsewhere, 
are line style, with flat colour, in Gothic tapestries, paint style, 
in Renaissance tapestries, sculptural style in seventeenth cen- 
tury tapestries, and again paint style in eighteenth century 
tapestries. This means that the shadows of seventeenth cen- 
tury tapestries are too heavy, while the relief effects of Gothic 
tapestries are secured, not by the tones and colours of the 
painter, but through the extraordinary contrasts introduced 
on the loom by Tapestry Texture. 


* oe ¢ 
a 

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PLATES XVIII, b, ba.—ABOVE, CONTEMPORARY MANUSCRIPT PORTRAIT OF 
PHILIP THE GOOD AND HIS YOUTHFUL SON CHARLES THE BOLD, SHOWING A 
BOOK PRESENTED BY ITS AUTHOR. BELOW, VALENCIENNES TOURNAMENT 


TAPESTRY WITH PORTRAITS OF LOUIS XII AND PHILIP THE HANDSOME 





1 


NOTE THE DOUBLE 


MONOGRAMS, AND THE FLINTS STRIKING FIRE 


GOTHIC VERDURE ARMORIAL TAPESTRY OF CHARLES THE BOLD, IN THE BERNE MUSEUM. 


PLATE XVIII, ¢. 





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ABOVE, DETAIL ‘ROEM’ FROM THE PAYNE “CRUCIFIXION 
OF THE METROPOLITAN 


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“REOON” FROM “ESTHER AND AUGUSTUS,” A LATE GOTHIC TAPESTRY RICH WITH GOLD IN 
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PLATES Xvull, f, fa.—ABOVE, “INFAMY,” ONE O# THE “HONORS” SET OF TAPES— 
TRIES IN THE ROYAL SPANISH COLLECTION, SHOWING ON THE RIGHT THE PORTRAIT 
OF THE AUTHOR. BELOW, “CAPTURE OF RABBAH,” ONE OF THE “STORY OF DAVID” 
TAPESTRIES IN THE CLUNY MUSEUM, SHOWING. ON THE RIGHT PORTRAIT OF THE 


AUTHOR WITH TWO COMPANIONS 


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PLATES XVIII, i, ia.—ABOVE, BERNARD VAN ORLEY’S SKETCH IN THE LOUVRE FOR 
ONE OF THE BATTLE OF PAVIA TAPESTRIES. BELOW, GIULIO ROMANO’S SKETCH IN THE 
SALTING COLLECTION OF THE VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM FOR ONE OF THE 
“CHILDREN PLAYING’ TAPESTRIES 


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PLATES XVIII, j, ja——TWO OF THE FAMOUS RAPHAEL CARTOONS IN THE VICTORIA AND 
ALBERT MUSEUM. ABOVE, CURING THE PARALYTIC (SEE PLATE XVI, a, FOR ONE OF THE 
MORTLAKE TAPESTRIES WOVEN FROM IT). BELOW, SACRIFICE AT LYSTRA 








PLATE XVIII, k.—MAKING A SET OF FIVE CARTOONS. UPPER RIGHT CORNER, THE 
FIRST SMALL COLOR SKETCH. ON THE LEFT, ONE OF THE PANELS COMPLETED. ON 
THE RIGHT, MEDALLION OF ANOTHER PANEL, DRAWN BUT’ NOT COLORED. EDGEWATER 
TAPESTRY LOOMS 





PLATE XVIII, l.—cCARTOON PAINTERS AT WORK. ON THE RIGHT, MR. KLEISER, PROPRIETOR AND 
DIRECTOR OF THE EDGEWATER TAPESTRY WORKS 





PLATE XIX, &.—HIGH-WARP LOOM AT THE GOBELINS. THE WEAVER PULL— 
ING THE LEASHES (lisses) WITH HIS LEFT HAND, TO FORM THE SHED THROUGH 
WHICH WITH HIS RIGHT HAND HE IS PASSING THE POINTED BOBBIN (broche), 
FROM LEFT TO RIGHT 


CHAPTER XIX 


TAPESTRY MANUFACTURE 


HIGH WARP VS. LOW WARP, SIGNATURES OF MANUFACTURERS 
REPAIRING AND CLEANING TAPESTRIES 


Amone modern tapestry factories at which I have studied 
the process of tapestry weaving are those of Baumgarten, 
of the Herter Looms, and of others in New York; the Gobelins, 
Beauvais, and Aubusson, and others in France; Merton in 
England, one in Brussels, two in Rome, and the Royal Tapes- 
try Works in Madrid. The illustrations used in this chapter 
are from the Gobelins; and from the Edgewater Tapestry 
Looms at Hdgewater, New Jersey, where the making of inex- 
pensive tapestries in loose texture has been developed to a 
high degree of excellence. 

The process at all of these factories is practically the same, 
except that some of the factories use high-warp looms, while 
others use low-warp looms. High-warp looms are used at 
the Gobelins, Merton, Madrid, and Rome; low-warp looms, 
elsewhere. While the French call high-warp looms haute lisse 
looms, lisse means not warp but leash (See below). High- 
warp looms have the warp in a perpendicular position, wind- | 
ing up as completed on the lower roller, and unwinding from 
the upper roller (Plates b, ba). Low-warp looms have the 
warp in a horizontal position, winding up as completed on the 
roller next the weaver, and unwinding from the other roller 
(Plate XIX, d). Neither high-warp looms nor low-warp 
looms have mechanical power or shuttle. Both are manipu- 
lated entirely by the weaver and both are bobbin looms, as 
contrasted with shuttle hand looms, and with power looms. 

At this point it should be noted that high-warp looms are 

257 


258 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


not necessarily tapestry looms. For example, Oriental rug 
looms are high-warp looms. A majority of the haute lisse 
looms mentioned in documents of the fourteenth and fifteenth 
centuries, produced fabrics not tapestry. 

The object of both high-warp looms and low-warp looms 
is the same—to hold the warps parallel and taut, and to facili- 
tate the passing of the bobbins. While it is possible to weave 
a tapestry by passing the bobbin to the left alternately over 
and under the warp threads, and back to the right alternately 
under and over, the passing goes quicker when a shed between 
the odd and even warps, with the odd warps next to the weaver, 
is formed for the passage of the bobbin to the left, and a 
reversed shed with the even warps next to the weaver, for the 
passage of the bobbin back. On the high-warp loom the first 
shed is formed by a stick between the odds and evens, and the 
second shed by pulling with the left hand leashes that draw 
the even warps through the odd warps to the side next the 
weaver (Plate XIX, a). This leaves only the right hand free 
for passing the bobbin back. 

The low-warp loom is mechanically an improvement on the 
high-warp loom. In the low-warp loom (Plate XIX, d) there 
are two sets of leashes, one set attached to the odd warps and 
worked with the left foot, the second set attached to the even 
warps and worked with the right foot. Push the right foot 
down, letting the left foot up, and the first shed is formed. 
Push the left foot down, letting the right foot up, and the sec- 
ond shed is formed. The width of shed made by working the 
treadles of the low-warp loom is much greater than that made 
by the left hand on the high-warp loom. The low-warp loom is 
much faster than the high-warp loom, when the passes are long. 
The high-warp loom might be described as an all-hand loom, 
the low-warp loom as a hand-and-foot loom. 


TAPESTRY MANUFACTURE 259 


TAPESTRY WOVEN WRONG SIDE 


On both looms, tapestries are woven wrong side next to 
the weaver. While a tapestry can be woven face next the 
weaver, the process is slow and awkward. The weaver needs 
the bobbins next him. The low-warp weaver has to Judge 
what he has woven from the wrong side only, which is obscured 
by floating threads and bobbins. Bits of the face he can see 
only imperfectly in a tiny mirror through the warps. Here is 
the great artistic advantage of the high-warp loom. The high- 
warp weaver has only to go around to the front of his loom 
to see the face of his tapestry. This helps not only the 
weaver, but especially the foreman and the artistic director 
in their efforts to keep track of the weaver’s work. Mistakes 
and imperfections are easily seen and quickly rectified. On 
most low-warp looms the face of the tapestry 1s first seen 
after the tapestry has been completed and demounted from the 
loom. While the small iron low-warp looms now used at Beau- 
vais allow the warp to be revolved to a perpendicular position 
during the weaving, the preparations involved are elaborate 
and time-consuming. 

An important difference between high warp and low warp 
is in the position of the cartoon. The high-warp weaver 
usually works with a full-size colour model behind him, or 
over him, and with the outline of the design inked on the warps. 
The low-warp weaver has his large cartoon under the warp, 
close up and facing it, so that no inking of the warp is neces- 
sary. The tapestry being woven face down, the low-warp 
weaver consequently reverses the direction of the design in 
weaving, so that cartoons for the low-warp loom have to be 
painted left-handed in order to make them come out right- 
handed. But at Beauvais they have a transparent tracing 
under the warp, made from the coloured cartoon beside the 
weaver, and reversed by being placed face down. On high- 


260 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


warp looms the weaver gets his colour by looking at a cartoon 
that is distant from the warp. On most low-warp looms, the 
weaver gets both design and colour from a cartoon that is 
close up against the warps (Plate XIX, c). So the high-warp 
process as regards colouration is much freer and more depen- 
dent upon the weaver’s skill. 


LOW WARP FASTER 


While low-warp weaving is faster, high-warp manipulation 
of the wefts is more completely under the weaver’s control. 
The high warp is far superior for the first interpretation of an 
intricate design. When the design is intricate and the texture 
is coarse the high-warp is not only easier but faster. When 
the design is coarse and the texture is fine, the low warp is 
twice or three times as fast. The high-warp loom is primarily 
and in its origin a loom for the coarse threads of wool. The 
low warp is primarily and in its origin a loom for the fine 
threads of silk. I am certain that the development of the tex- 
ture of Perfected Tapestries in the fourteenth century took 
place on the high-warp loom, and I believe that some of the 
degeneration of tapestry texture in the sixteenth century was 
due to the general substitution of low-warp looms for high- 
warp looms. I do not mean to say that wonderful tapestries 
cannot be woven on low-warp looms by weavers familiar with 
high-warp traditions. But I maintain that the tendency of the 
low warp is to eliminate the refinements of tapestry texture, 
and I believe that the revival of the ancient art depends upon 
the revival of ancient tapestry texture, best studied by repro- 
ducing details of masterpieces from actual masterpieces that 
are still in perfect condition, upon the high-warp loom. How- 
ever, the difference between high-warp cloths and low-warp 
cloths is general and not specific. Intrinsically they are alike. 
The skilful low-warp weaver can reproduce most of the effects 
characteristic of the high warp; and the patterned parts of © 
a tapestry such as damassé grounds he can do better. 


TAPESTRY MANUFACTURE 261 


HIGH-WARP TEXTURE SUPERIOR 


Perhaps the clearest illustration is from tapestries of a set 
made at the Gobelins in the last half of the eighteenth century. 
I refer to Mrs. Dixon’s fine Don Quixote tapestries formerly 
in the Morgan collection, inherited by the King of Spain from 
his grandfather, and long exhibited on loan at the Metropolitan 
Museum. Four of the tapestries are high warp, one is low 
warp. While the ornamental parts of the low-warp tapestry 
are better, the medallion pictures of the four high warps are 
incomparably superior. The texture of the low-warp medal- 
lion is too smooth and flat. The high-warp medallions have 
irregularities and refinements that give life to the faces and 
strength to the contrasts. They look less like the cartoons, 
but have more of the vigor that is apparent in Gothic tapes- 
tries. In other words, the texture of the low-warp tapestry is 
more like that of painted pictures and of damasks, while the 
texture of the four high-warp tapestries is the texture of Per- 
fected Tapestries. 

The tapestries made at the Gobelins on high-warp looms 
in the reign of Louis XIV are immeasurably superior to those 
made on the low-warp looms. The first interpretations of 
creat sets like the Story of the King were invariably entrusted 
to the managers of the high-warp shops. A superlative 
example of eighteenth century Gobelin high-warp texture is 
Mr. Rockefeller’s set of ten Months of Lucas (Plates XIII, b, ¢, 
d; XVII, e,f). I doubt if the refinements of texture shown on 
Plate XVII, f, could be successfully reproduced on the low 
warp. Beauvais-Bouchers show the low-warp loom at its 
highest point in the eighteenth century. They possess many 
texture refinements peculiar to the Beauvais Tapestry Works 
at this period. 

I do not think that low-warp looms became common for 
large picture tapestries until near the end of the fifteenth cen- 
tury. Perhaps the so-called Louis Douze tapestries of Brus- 


262 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


sels are their first important production. The great Mazarin 
and similar gold tapestries I attribute to high-warp looms. 
During the sixteenth century, the low warp reigned at Brus- 
sels. Raphael’s Acts of the Apostles (Plate VIII, fa) was 
woven on low-warp looms. The fact that the cartoons (Plate 
VIII, f) were painted left-handed, makes this certain. Mean- 
while France clung to the more primitive and less profitable 
high-warp loom. The institution of tapestry weaving at the 
Gobelins at the beginning of the seventeenth century was an 
effort to establish Flemish low-warp weaving in Paris. Both 
before and after the Gobelins became a State institution: in 
1664, high-warp and low-warp looms were used there side by 
side. Beauvais founded in 1664 represents another influx of 
Flemish low-warp looms and weavers, although Béhagle prob- 
ably employed high-warp looms for some of his greatest sets. 
Since the eighteenth century, the Gobelins have used high-warp 
looms only. 

Sometimes tapestries were woven in two or more pieces, 
and sewed together after leaving the loom. The few instances 
of this before the eighteenth century are principally of bottom 
borders, or top and bottom borders, made separately from the 
rest of the panel. In the last quarter of the eighteenth cen- 
tury at the Gobelins, we have Don Quixote and Boucher small 
medallion pictures sometimes woven separately from the 
damassé backgrounds that frame them. ‘Two of the small 
Boucher pictures woven for separate use are the ‘‘ Fortune 
Teller’? and ‘‘Fishing’”’ in the Bordeaux Bourse. At Beau- 
vais some tapestries were woven in half a dozen separate 
pieces, and sewed together after weaving (Plate XI, ga). 


GOTHIC MANUFACTURERS 


Gothic tapestries were not signed by the manufacturer. If 
his name appears, it is as part of an inscription. For instance, 
one of the lost panels of the Saint Piat and Saint Hleuthere 


TAPESTRY MANUFACTURE 263 


set (Plates III, e, f) at Tournai had a French inscription read- 
ing in translation: These cloths were made and completed in 
Arras by Pierrot Fere, in the gracious month of December, 
1402. Also, a lost panel of the Saint Anatoile set—two of 
which belonging to the Salins Museum are now in the Louvre, 
one in the museum of the Gobelins, and a fragment with por- 
trait of Saint Anatoile in the Demotte collection—bore the 
inscription: ‘‘These fourteen pieces of tapestry were made 
and constructed at Bruges in the shop of Jehan Sauvage in 
the year 1501.”’ 

Most of the information we have about Gothic merchants 
‘and weavers comes from inventories and other ancient records 
on paper. The account books of the Duke of Anjou in 
the fourteenth century show that Nicolas Bataille of Paris 
received 1000 franes apiece for the famous Angers Apocalypse 
tapestries (Plates III, ¢, ca, cb, cc, d). Other tapestries sold 
by Bataille were: Story of Hector, to the Duke of Anjou; 
Story of Theseus and the Golden Eagle, to the Duke of ‘l'ou- 
raine; Story of Penthesilea, to the Duke of Orleans; Gentle- 
men and Ladies, Godfrey de Bouillon, Shepherds and Shep- 
herdess, Bertram de Claiquin, to the Duke of Burgundy. 
Other important tapestry sales of the period were of: Roman 
de la Rose, Shepherdesses, Ladies leaving for the Hunt, Con- 
quest of Babylon by Alexander the Great, Nine Heroines 
(Preuses), Charlemagne, Esau and Jacob, Percival le Gallois, 
Chateau de Franchise, Bertrand du Guesclin, Hector of Troy, 
by Jacques Dourdin, to the Duke of Burgundy; Story of the 
Credo with the Twelve Prophets and the Twelve Apostles, 
Coronation of the Virgin, Dourdon, the Duke of Beauvais, 
Destruction of Troy, Boudouin de Seboure, Charlemagne 
going to the aid of King Jourdain, by Jacques Dourdin, to the 
Duke of Orleans; Passion of Our Lord, Judas Maccabeus, 
Story of the Credo, Roman de la Rose, Nine Heroes and Nine 
Heroines, Life of Saint Denis, Jason and the Golden Fleece, 


264 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


by Pierre de Beaumetz, to the Duke of Burgundy. Most of 
these tapestries were enriched with gold. 

During a large part of the fifteenth century, the French 
Duke of Burgundy had more power, wealth and glory than his 
liege lord, the King of France. The finest tapestries were 
made not for Charles VII but for Philip the Good. Due per- 
haps to the fact that the Bishop of Tournai was very close 
to Philip, the most important tapestries of the middle of the 
fifteenth century were made in Tournai. In 1449 Philip 
ordered the Story of Gideon, a set of eight tapestries to hang 
in the chapter hall of the Order of the Golden Fleece, from 
Robert Dary and Jean de l’Ortie, tapestry manufacturers of 
Tournai. The tapestries were to cost 8960 gold crowns, to 
have a total area of 1120 aunes (630 square yards), to be 
executed in wool and silk, gold and silver, and to be delivered 
in four years. This would indicate an average size of 18 feet 
high by forty feet long. It was certainly one of the most 
important, if not the most important, set of tapestries made 
in the fifteenth century. It was displayed in 1468 at Bruges, 
on the occasion of the marriage of Philip’s son, Charles the 
Bold, to the English princess, Margaret of York; at Brussels 
in 1498 at the baptism of Eleanor, daughter of Philip the Hand- 
some, and elder sister of the Emperor Charles V; again at 
Brussels in 1555, when Charles V abdicated. It disappeared 
at the end of the eighteenth century. 

In 1459 Philip bought from Pasquier Grenier of Tournai a 
story of Alexander enriched with gold and silver and measur- 
ing about 400 square yards. It included bed draperies in addi- 
tion to the six wall panels, and cost 5000 gold crowns. The 
two Alexander tapestries in the Doria Palace at Rome (Plates 
V, k, ka) each 15 by 33 feet, may be part of this set. The 
apparent absence of gold would not necessarily prove the con- 
trary. Gold tended to disappear almost as quickly as dark 


TAPESTRY MANUFACTURE 265 


brown from Gothic tapestries made before 1480, and where it 
is still found is often restoration. In 1461 Philip bought from 
Pasquier Grenier six Passion of Our Lord tapestries rich with 
gold and silver for 4000 gold crowns. The average size was 
about 15 by 27 feet, and there were Latin inscriptions in gold 
on black. In 1462 Philip bought six Story of Esther tapestries 
from Pasquier Grenier. The Esther tapestries at Saragossa 
are probably part of this set or of a duplicate set. In 1462 
Philip bought of Pasquier Grenier three Knight of the Swan 
(Chevalier aw Cygne) tapestries, which are undoubtedly 
related to the fragment in the Cracow Katharinenkirche (12 
by 18 feet), and the smaller fragment in the Vienna Museum of 
Art and Industry. In 1472 the magistracy of Bruges bought of 
Pasquier Grenier a Trojan War Tapestry to present to 
Charles the Bold. This almost certainly was part of the fam- 
ous Trojan War group described by me in Chapter V. 

} Towards the end of the fifteenth century Brussels sup- 
planted Tournai as the great tapestry-weaving centre. Tour- 
nai was pro-French and does not appear to have got on well 
with Philip the Handsome, grandson of Charles the Bold. In 
1497 Tournai presented to Philip the Handsome six chambers 
of tapestry (room sets) to induce him to withdraw the edict 
forbidding the sale of Tournai tapestries in territory con- 
trolled by him. In 1505 Philip the Handsome bought of Jean 
Grenier of Tournai a Story of Banquet in six pieces (Plate 
IV, m), aroom set of Vine Dressers, and a room set of Wood- 
choppers, which he took with him on his trip to Spain. 

The finest tapestries of the end of the fifteenth century 
such as the Mazarin and the other religious tapestries similarly 
rich with gold, were made at Brussels during the married life 
of Philip the Handsome, and Joanna the Mad, daughter of 
Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. To the same period and a 
little later belong the so-called Louis Douze tapestries, strong 


266 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


in blue-greens and apt to be confused in composition. Wine 
the draperies are strongly hatched and splendidly effective, 
most Louis Douze tapestries are obviously commercial degen- 
erations of great tapestries like the Salvation and Credo 
groups (Chapter IV) and Mr. Mackay’s David and Bathsheba. 
A great tapestry manufacturer of this period was Peter Van 
Aelst of Brussels who was Philip the Handsome’s Chamber- 
Jain, and later made for Pope Leo X the famous Acts of the 
Apostles tapestries after Raphael (Plate VIII, fa). The 
Brussels gold tradition was worthily continued in the Early 
Renaissance Van Orley tapestries rich with gold. 


SIGNATURES OF MANUFACTURERS 


We have now reached the period when the manufacturer’s 
signature becomes usual on tapestries. In 1528 it was ordered 
that henceforth all tapestries made in the Netherlands should 
bear the mark of the city and of the maker. The mark of 
Brussels, a red shield between two golden B’s (standing for 
Brussels, in Brabant), continued to appear in the bottom sel- 
vages of tapestries made in Brussels for three centuries. 
During the rest of the sixteenth century the maker’s signature 
was commonly his monogram, put in the right selvage near 
the bottom. During the seventeenth century and early eigh- 
teenth, the maker’s initials or full name were woven into the 
bottom selvage. 

The most successful Brussels tapestry manufacturer of 
the sixteenth century was William Van Pannemaker. He 
made for the Emperor Charles V the great Tunis set com- 
memorating the Emperor’s expeditions to Africa, and for the 
Duke of Alba, his Victories, both sets rich with gold and 
silver. Pannemaker’s receipt to the Duke of Alba’s agent, in 
Flemish with translation in Spanish, and signed by Panne- 
maker’s own hand, is still preserved by the family and I have 


TAPESTRY MANUFACTURE 267 


been allowed to have a photograph of the document which I 
hope to publish later. 

The best accurate lists of tapestry signatures are those in 
Birk Austrian and Baldass Austrain, Valencia Spanish, Boet- 
tiger Swedish, and Garde Meuble (See index of books in 
Chapter XXII). Pannemaker’s monogram, a left-handed P 
growing out of a W, the P sometimes being triangular like the 
mark of the Cross appears on hundreds of tapestries notably 
on the Tunis, Abraham, Apocalypse, and Capital Sins sets of 
the Royal Spanish collection; and on the Arms of Charles V, 
Deadly Sins, and Garden Views, of the National Austrian 
collection. Other monograms of important Brussels Renais- 
sance tapestry manufacturers are those of Francois Geubels, 
Antoine Geubels, Nicolas Leyniers, Mare Cretif. Jan Raes 
of Brussels in the first quarter of the seventeenth century 
sometimes signs both monogram in right selvage and name 
in bottom selvage. (For instance, Mrs. Wheaton Vaughan’s 
Samson and Delilah tapestries). Seventeenth century Brus- 
sels signatures often found are those of «. v. D. STRECKEN and 
I, V. LEEFDAEL (on the Cleopatra tapestries of the Metropolitan 
Museum) ; H. REYDAMs and E. Leynrers (on Mr. Hinckle Smith’s 
monumental Judith set); at the end of the century, I. DE vos 
(on the New York Public Library’s Parnassus) ; and A. 
avwercx (on Abundance, No. 43 of the Philadelphia Tapestry 
Exhibition 1915). 

Early Gobelin signatures are P with fleur-de-lis for Paris, 
and the monograms of Frans Van der Planken, Philip de 
Maecht who later signed at Mortlake, Hans Taxis (on the 
Diana set at the Morgan Memorial in Hartford) ; Alexander 
de Comans (on the Rinaldo and Armida formerly in the 
Hampton Shops collection); Raphael de la Planche on Mr. 
Albright’s Diana tapestry that was No. 69 of the Buffalo 
Tapestry Exhibition 1914. 


268 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


Signatures at the Gobelins after 1662 when it became a 
State institution are those of the proprietors of the different 
shops. ¢ or Gos, with a fleur-de-lis, takes the place of Paris. 
Names that occur on the bottom selvage of tapestries in the 
French National collection are 1ans; sometimes the monogram 
of Lefebvre, sometimes the name spelled out, sometimes the 
initials L. F.; AUDRAN (See Mr. Rockefeller’s Months of Lucas), 
MONMERQUH, D. LA. CROIX (Delacroix), MozIn, D. L. F. (Dela- 
fraye), E. LEBLOND, I. SOUET, NEILSON, cozeTre (See Mr. 
Mackay’s Don Quixote set). There were several Jans, 
Lefebvres, Leblonds, Audrans, and Cozettes, son succeeding 
father. Of the weavers named above Jans, Lefebvre, Mon- 
merqué, Audran and Cozette used high-warp looms, the others 
low-warp looms, except the elder Cozette who began on the 
low warp and ended on the high warp. Many Gobelin tapes- 
tries were not signed. 

Beauvais signatures are those of the proprietors, BEHAGLE, 
BESNIER, (Senator Clark’s Fountain of Love), a.c.c. (Andre 
Charlemagne Charron) on Mrs. Hutton’s Bacchus and Ari- 
adne, p. M. (De Menou) on Mr. Mackay’s Vasco da Gama set. 
Consult Chapter XI for signature of Béhagle. 

The present mark of the Gobelins is a G impaled by 
pointed bobbin (broche). This draws attention to the fact 
that the high-warp bobbins (Plate XIX, a) are pointed at one 
end while low-warp bobbins are blunt at both ends. Also, 
the ends of Aubusson bobbins are round, while those of Beau- 
vais are hexagonal. In a modern tapestry factory at Brus- 
sels I saw bobbins spade-shaped at one end, and was told that 
they were copies of ancient ones. The reason high-warp bob- 
bins are pointed is that the pointed ends are used in pressing 
down the threads. 

Anciently tapestries were measured in aunes (English ells). 
The Flemish aune was 27 inches, the French aune 463, inches. 


TAPESTRY MANUFACTURE 269 


The Flemish aune was used at Flanders and at Beauvais; the 
French aune at the Gobelins and elsewhere in France. Com- 
mercially the French square aune was figured as equivalent 
to three Flemish square aunes. 

The great centres of tapestry weaving at different periods 
were: Paris and Arras in the fourteenth century and early 
fifteenth; Tournai in the middle of the fifteenth; Brussels at 
the end of the fifteenth and through the sixteenth; the Gobelins 
and Brussels in the seventeenth ; the Gobelins, Beauvais, Brus- 
sels, and Aubusson in the eighteenth. 





% 


‘WOOT dUVM—-HDIH V GNIHGd ‘LAAT AHL NO 


SNITAGOD AHLYLVY HLOd 


‘eq “q ‘XIX SULVId 


‘WOOT duVM—HDIH V AO LNOUd NI SLHDIU AHL NO 








C.—LOW—-WARP TAPESTRY WEAVING AT EDGEWATER. THE WEAVER 
WITH HIS LEFT HAND HAS FORCED THE WARP THREADS APART SO THAT THE FIGURE 
ON THE CARTOON BENEATH IS CLEARLY SEEN 


’ 





t ith 
Gl ae ated 1 





PLATE XIX, d.—TAPESTRY WEAVING. GENERAL VIEW OF LOW-WARP LOOM. SHOWING THE WEAVER AT WORK 





PLATES XIX, €, €&.—ABOVE, SUPPLEMENTING AN ANCIENT FRAGMENT 
ON A SMALL LOW-WARP LOOM. BELOW, FRICTION LEVERS BIND THE ROLLERS 
AND KEEP THE WARP TAUT, JUST AS THEY DID FIVE HUNDRED YEARS AGO 





PLATES XIX, if fa.—ABOVE, SPINNING WHEEL, AND SPOOLS OF WOOLEN THREAD. 
BELOW, BOBBINS WOUND WITH WOOL OR SILK, AND STOCK OF YARN 


IVANIHOOO GHL GAZIUAATOd OL UAGNIND AGMKHOO ‘“SIVIUALVA AAC AO SNIMYIA GNV SUV(—'S ‘XIX ALV Id 





SIH GNV YAAMC AHL—'Y ‘STX GLV Id 








‘SOU NADANG ‘URISSHL AM SUAGHOM IVHOTA ‘AUGNO Ad LVS ‘YAHONO” - 
Ad WOVa ‘SNITGGOD WHHL LY AGVW GNV SSVIO LSAHDIH AHL AO SONINAAOD AYALINUNA AULSAdVLI—'v ‘xX ALVId 


wnt EI 


aan a eee eee ees 





CHAPTER XxX 
TAPESTRY FURNITURE COVERINGS 


In tHe Gothic fourteenth and fifteenth centuries pillow 
and cushion tops, as well as bed draperies, were often woven 
as part of room sets of tapestry, and also separately. The 
evidence is literary only. In the Renaissance sixteenth cen- 
tury, and in the early seventeenth century, coverings for sofas 
and chairs were woven in floral and grotesque designs like the 
borders of Late Renaissance tapestries. Much of the Renais- 
sance tapestry now found on furniture consists of borders 
and small grotesque panels cut up and turned from their 
original purpose. In the seventeenth century tapestries were 
less common on furniture than velvets, damasks, brocades and 
embroideries. We have, however, a number of ancient tap- 
estry examples both French and Flemish. 

The great century for tapestry furniture coverings was the 
eighteenth. Furniture came into more general use than ever 
before, and seats and backs were upholstered for everybody. 
France set the pace; Flanders was a poor second. From 
England we have a number of good sets made by weavers 
who had been at Mortlake, and by their pupils, and by immi- 
grant French weavers. 

The low-warp loom is most efficient on floral and orna- 
mental designs, and on a small scale. Most of the furniture 
coverings of the first half of the eighteenth century were made 
at Beauvais on low-warp looms, and a few of the finest on low- 
warp looms at the Gobelins in the third quarter of the century 
by Neilson. 

Oudry and Boucher who set the pace in the designing of 
wall tapestries, also surpassed in the designing of furniture 
tapestries. Oudry’s illustrations of Lafontaine’s Fables were 
extremely popular on the backs of chairs and sofas, usually 

19 271 


Q72 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


with floral designs on the seats; but were before long often 
supplanted on the backs by Boucher’s dainty pastorals with 
figures, and sought refuge in the seats. At the same time 
Oudry designs often appeared on both seat and back (Plates 
XX, e, ea, f) and many all-floral seats and backs were made. 

Famous all floral sets are the one in the National Aus- 
trian collection, with screens and Boucher picture-medallion 
wall tapestries to match; and the Duke of Cumberland’s set 
which has just arrived in America, as fresh as the day it was 
made, never having been used. Both of these sets were made 
by Neilson at the Gobelins. Several important Beauvais sets 
from the designs of Salembier (Plate XX, g) are also now 
in America. 

The finest set of furniture coverings ever made is the one 
in the possession of Sir George Cooper, with Boucher pic- 
tures on both seat and back, woven for Madame de Pompa- 
dour by Neilson at the Gobelins. Almost as fine is the set illus- 
trated (Plates XX, a, b, c), with Boucher pictures on the back 
and Oudry Lafontaine pictures on the seat. The floral bor- 
ders by Tessier are indescribably rich in colour and texture 
and in design are unsurpassed. Note how wonderfully flowers 
and fruit soften the foreground on the seats. 

The example set at Beauvais and the Gobelins was followed 
at Aubusson, from which we have many attractive sets with 
white ground, especially in the period of Louis XVI, with 
Boucher and Oudry designs copied and developed by Huet 
and others. 

Other designers of Beauvais furniture tapestries were 
Leprince and Casanova; for the Gobelins, Charles Coypel, 
Fontenay, Perrot, Hisen, Jacques, and Tessier. 





PLATE XX, b.—ONE OF THE CHAIRS BELONGING TO THE SET OF WHICH 
PLATE XX, a, SHOWS THE SOFA. DUVEEN BROS. 





SET OF WHICH 


DUVEEN BROS 


) 


BELONGING TO THE 
a 


—ANOTHER OF THE CHAIRS 


Cc 


) 


THE SOFA IS ILLUSTRATED ON PLATE XX 


PLATE XX 


nomen 
OR REATE EST 
sorpenetnrtt 


: ott é = ee encom tye 
hows ies Yep en tty Sears EMA DER? GAS # 
gee Baa ies SIL iste esol ast wind os 


€ 





PLATES XX, d, da.—BEAUVAIS TAPESTRY FURNITURE COVERINGS IN THE LOUVRE; 
BACKS BY BOUCHER, SEATS BY OUDRY 


‘SOUd NAWANG ‘*XOd DHL SLANONVEA ANVHO AHL ‘LHDINU AHL NO ‘ANVUO FHL SLANONVA XOA AHL ‘LAWT AHL NO 
“kNaNO AM GHNDISUAC SONINAAOD AUOLINUNA AULSAdVL SIVANVAA AO LAS V dO LVAS GNV Movd—'Bo ‘9 ‘XX SHLVTd 





‘SOU NAGANG “AOVd ALISOddO HHL NO GHULVULSOATTII GAHV SUYUIVHO AHL AO ANO JO MOVE AGNV LVAS 
GHL “SIVADVAd LY NHAOM GNV AUGNO Ad GHUNODISAG SONIHMAAOD AUDLINYDAA AO LEYS V AO Vi0OS—'} ‘xx GLV1d 





‘SOUd NADANG AO NOILOWTION AHL NI ‘YaIAWATYS 
AG GHUNDISUG SONIMAAOD AUOLINUNA AULSAUVL IAX SINOT JO LAS V dO ANO ‘V4OS SIVANVEA—'s ‘XX GBLVId 


Teper soscsaoe 
BESSESSTELELERELS SES 


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Te OOOO RTD 


2 


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2 arene chee are rereree OG. CO 





CHAPTER XXI 
MODERN TAPESTRIES 


I am very much in sympathy with what Monsieur Geoffroi 
and Monsieur Ajalbert are trying to do at the Gobelins and at 
Beauvais. They are employing the best French painters to 
originate cartoons that shall be as representative of French 
art of today as were the cartoons of Louis XIV and Louis XV, 
and of the Gothic fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, repre- 
sentative of French art of those periods. I feel they deserve 

so much credit for what they have already accomplished that 
I do not wish to criticise them for what they have as yet 
failed to accomplish. 

The Gobelins is the artistic centre of tapestry weaving. 
From the paint point of view the designs used at the Gobelins 
are superior. There is none of the bad drawing so common 
elsewhere. Often the colours have real tapestry strength, and 
sometimes the compositions have real tapestry power. Yet 
none of them equal in tapestry merit the compositions devel- 
oped for Merton by Burne-Jones and William Morris, and one 
or two of their immediate followers. The weave, however, of 
modern Gobelins is distinctly better than that of the best pic- 
ture cloths of Merton. The design of the Merton verdure in 
the Metropolitan Museum is better than the weave. The 
finest Morris-Jones tapestries are the Holy Grail set of 
twelve made for Stanmore Hall, Middlesex. It was part of 
the Stanmore Hall sale at Sotheby’s July 16, 1920 (Plates 129, 
131, 133, of Hunter 1912). The modern Gobelin tapestry that 
T like best is Gorguet’s ‘‘Vertumnus and Pomona’’ (1903). 
It was a great advance over Jules Lefebvre’s ‘‘Nymph and 
Bacchus’? (1888). Charming with its flowers and Gothic 
lettering, but not overstrong, is the ‘‘Joan of Arc’’ set by 

J. P. Laurens, exhibited at San Francisco in 1915 and at 
273 


QT THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


Brooklyn in 1918 (Illustrated in the catalogue). Charming 
but out of balance and out of scale are Jean Verber’s ‘‘La 
Belle au Bois Dormant’’ and ‘‘Le Petit Poucet’’; also Raf- 
faelli’s ‘‘La Bretagne,’’ Anquetin’s ‘‘ La Bourgone,’’ and espe- 
cially Chéret’s ‘‘Printemps,’’ ‘‘La Danse’’ and ‘Le Dejeuner 
sur ’Herbe.’’? More interesting in subject than in execution 
are Toudouze’s historical panels, in the Court of Justice at 
Rennes; and Willette’s ‘‘Salut 4 Paris.’? Blanc’s ‘“Les 
Armes de la Ville de Paris’’ is excellent, but might have been 
woven more in accordance with the capabilities of tapestry 
texture. Braquemond’s ‘‘L’Are en Ciel,’? and Madame 
Cazin’s ‘‘Diane,’’ show how not to do it. They look like weak 
imitations of the Brussels Renaissance Poésies (Ganymede, 
Andromeda, Marsyas, Icarus, Polixena) in the Royal Spanish 
collection. Maurice Taqoy’s furniture coverings, made at 
Beauvais for the Compagnie des Arts Frangais, are up-to- 
date in style and altogether fascinating. They are like what 
Oudry might do if he were still alive. | 

The making of tapestries at Aubusson is hampered by the 
failure of the French Government to codperate sufficiently 
with the industry. The local museum, which should be rich 
with ancient tapestries of an inspirational type, is shamefully 
neglected. Most of the weavers have no opportunity to study 
the great examples of the past. Hven the large manufac- 
turers do not show sufficient initiative in training the men who 
sit at the loom. Aubusson is at its best in the reproduction 
of eighteenth century furniture coverings. 

Some of the best weaving in the world is done in a small 
way at Paris, mostly in connection with the repairing and 
cleaning of tapestries. Unfortunately too many of the weavers 
regard the copying of paintings in paint technique as the 
summit of their ambitions. 

The rugs made at the Royal Tapestry Factory in Madrid 
are so good that the tapestries ought to be better. 

Of the three principal tapestry plants in New York, the 


MODERN TAPESTRIES Q75 


Baumgartens have made the best reproductions of Gobelin 
Bouchers; the Herter Looms have employed the most original 
designs; the Edgewater Factory has been most successful in 
weaving for the trade, and in developing texture that without 
having all the refinements of ancient Gothic texture, avoids 
the boardlike surface of many modern tapestries. Many of 
the Edgewater tapestries are superior to many of the inexpen- 
sive tapestries of the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth 
centuries. The furniture coverings in the style of cross 
stitch needlework are admirable. 

As for the ‘‘fake’’ Gothies said to be made in Spain—well, 
that is another story. They come nearer than any other 
modern tapestries to achieving the texture of Perfected Tap- 
estries. They are good enough to be sold honestly. 

The trouble with most modern tapestries is not their new- | 
ness. They look better new than they do ten years later. The 
faults are fundamental. 

It would seem to go without saying that designs should 
fit the process. Textiles depend for expression upon the 
threads of which they are composed. These threads being 
coloured and toned from light to dark are able by contrast of 
eolours and of light and shade to simulate many of the effects 
of paint. But their peculiar and principal power is, by con- 
trast of threads, which are lines in relief, to secure the line 
effects that are suggested by the flat lines of engraving but 
realized only in textiles. 

Modern tapestries look weak and are weak. They employ 
the line contrasts that are shared by tapestries with the other 
textiles, but few of them go far beyond the primitive stage in 
the utilization of the line contrasts that are peculiar to tap- 
estries, and that were developed to perfection in Gothic tapes- 
tries. (Consult Chapter XVII.) 

The characteristic feature of tapestries—that which makes 
them the wonderful things that they are—cannot be put on 
paper or canvas. While it can be suggested in small colour 


276 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES - 


sketches in oil, to put it into full-size cartoons is impossible. 
We have no right to blame tapestry designers for not making 
cartoons that look like tapestries. The tapestry part is up to 
the weaver. But we have the right to insist that tapestry 
designers shall create compositions lending themselves to 
interpretation in tapestry texture, which give opportunity 
for the free employment of tapestry technique, and which do 
not call for the imitation of paint technique and of stunts that 
are peculiarly the glory of the painter. 

I repeat, we have the right to insist that tapestry designers 
shall create compositions lending themselves to interpretation 
in tapestry texture. This means that the compositions shall 
be well covered, like the compositions of great Gothic tapes- 
tries (Plates IV, f, g, i, j, 1, n; V, b, ¢, j; VI, a, b, f, m)—human 
figures and trees and buildings architecturally arranged with 
a Maximum of vertical and a minimum of horizontal effects, 
with a minimum of shadows and a maximum of large line and 
colour contrasts—adjacent personages in contrasting colours, 
personages in the foreground pushed forward by personages 
and architecture in the middle-ground, personages and archi- 
tecture in the middle-ground; pushed forward by personages 
and architecture and landscapes, on a smaller scale, in the 
upper ground. The designs as a whole should be silhouetted, 
without attempt at sculptural presentations in the round. 
Tapestry texture can take flat designs and, through the magic 
of the bobbin, produce relief effects far stronger on a large 
scale than those of brush and chisel. 

The colour should be strong. Grays should be produced 
by the blending of bright colours, and not by the thinning of 
weak ones. One of the great faults of most modern tapestries 
is tameness of colour. 

Even if we had brilliant modern tapestry designs we have 
not the weavers competent to interpret them. And if we had 
weavers competent to interpret them we have no factories 
where the transformation into tapestry technique would be 


MODERN TAPESTRIES Q77 


permitted. Oudry, at the Gobelins in the middle of the eigh- 
teenth century, took the heart out of tapestry weavers by 
ordering them to copy the full-size cartoons exactly, without 
introducing the modifications that make a tapestry different 
from the cartoon, and superior to it. Oudry set a precedent 
that was fatal. Within thirty years his ideas were dominant 
at both the Gobelins and Beauvais, and have been dominant 
there ever since. When I asked my late lamented friend, 
Monsieur Jules Guiffrey, Administrator of the Gobelins, why 
no great tapestries were being made at the Gobelins, he 
replied: ‘‘The painters won’t let us.’’ 

I believe there are many weavers, at the Gobelins and else- 
where, who would be competent to interpret great tapestry 
designs boldly, if they were encouraged to study and imitate 
the technique of the middle of the fifteenth century. It would 
help them to copy some of the great fifteenth century tapestries 
that have not been spoiled by the repairer—copy literally I 
mean, with the same number of ribs to the inch, with warps 
and wefts of the same size spun in the same way out of similar 
fibres, and with only the same colours in the dyepot. The 
details illustrated on Plates S, e, f, i, j, 1, q, t, of the Sub- 
scribers’ Edition, and on Plates XVII, b, f, are a liberal educa- 
tion in tapestry texture. 











OF—ARMS. 


ITH COAT— 


DETAIL OF SAME 


MODERN AMERICAN VERDURE W 


) 


—AE OVE 


aa. 


a, 


PLATES XXI, 


BELOW, 


SS 


ATER TAPESTRY LOOM 


EDGEW 


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AHL AO UALYVOS GUIHL AHL WOUd AULSAdVL OIHLOD V “TOVS dO ONIN HSLLINd ‘SANNGYA—'q ‘XX GLVId 





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pe 








PLATES XXI, f, fa.—ABOVE, PIERRE DE ROHAN SINGS TO HIS WIFE’S 
PLAYING, A GOTHIC TAPESTRY MADE ABOUT 1510; CATHEDRAL OF 
ANGERS. BELOW, ADORATION OF THE MAGI, A GOTHIC TAPESTRY 
FROM THE MIDDLE OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY; BERNE MUSEUM 


wes 


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$ 
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ef 





PLATE XXI, g.—-AUTUMN, ONE OF THE SET OF FOUR GOBELIN SEASONS OF LUCAS THAT ADORN THE WALLS OF THE 
BROOKLINE TRUST CO. 


qooD AHL dITIHd AO HOTTHONVHO ‘NITOU JO LVYHL SI SWUV-AO-LVOO FHL ‘“SdILVuYOoud SLUV Sad 
AqSOW AHL NI CYALNAD HINADLAIA AHL JO AIGGIN AHL WOUd AUMLSAdVL OIHLOD V ‘SHaLLAd GOOM FHL— Y XxX ALVId 





CHAPTER XXII 
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS AND TAPESTRY LITERATURE 


THE most important public collections of tapestries to be 
seen are: 

In FRANCE: Gothic, at Angers, the Louvre, Cluny Museum, 
Reims; Late Gothic and Gothic-Renaissance religious sets, at 
Angers, Saumur, La Chaise Dieu, Aix-en-Provence, the Gobe- 
lins. Gobelins, at the Louvre, the Gobelins, Fontainebleau, 
Chantilly, Pau. 

In spain: Gothic, at Saragossa, Palencia, Zamora, Burgos. 
Late Gothic rich with gold, the Royal collection in Madrid, 
and Saragossa. Flemish Renaissance, the Royal collection 
in Madrid. Spanish eighteenth century, the Escurial and 
the Pardo. 

Most of the world’s Late Gothies rich with gold, are in the 
Royal Spanish collection. Many of the finest earlier Gothics 
are in Spanish cathedrals. The only set of fourteenth cen- 
tury Gothics is at Angers. 

In Encuanp: Gothic at the Victoria and Albert Museum, 
and Hampton Court. Flemish Renaissance, at Hampton 
Court. Mortlake, at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and at 
the Lady Lever Museum, Port Sunlight, near Liverpool. 

In switzertanp: Gothic, at Berne; German-Swiss Gothic, 
at Basel and Zurich. 

In germany: German Gothic, at Nuremburg, Regensburg, 
and Berlin. Flemish Renaissance, in Berlin. 

In the unitep states: Gothic, in the New York Metropoli- 
tan Museum, and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Flemish 
Renaissance, in the New York Metropolitan Museum, and the 
Boston Museum of Fine Arts. French and Flemish seven- 
teenth century, in the New York Metropolitan Museum. Beau- 
vais-Bouchers, in the New York Metropolitan Museum. 

279 


280 THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF TAPESTRIES 


In austria: Flemish Renaissance, and Flemish seventeenth 
and eighteenth century; Gobelins, and early eighteenth cen- 
tury Lotharingian, in the National Austrian collection at 
Vienna and Schonbrunn. 

In sweven: Gobelins, Mortlake, and Flemish seventeenth 
century, in the Royal Swedish collection, at Stockholm. 

Iniraty: Late Gothic, Flemish Renaissance, Gobelins, at 
the Vatican; Gobelins, Beauvais-Bouchers, at the Quirinal; 
Florentine Renaissance and Florentine seventeenth century, 
Flemish Renaissance, Gobelins, in the Royal Italian collection 
at Florence. 

Spain stands first in the possession of great Gothic tapes- 
tries. The United States comes next but with nearly all the © 
important pieces in private possession. Spain is first for 
Flemish Renaissance tapestries rich with gold; and Austria, 
second. France is many times first for Gobelins. The finest 
full-size tapestry cartoons are those of Raphael at the Victoria 
and Albert Museum. ‘The most important ancient sketches of 
Gothic tapestries are those of the Trojan War set at 
the Louvre. 


DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF BOOKS REFERRED TO IN THE TEXT 
AND SOME OTHERS THAT THE STUDENT WILL 


Apa, 1877 


ALFASSA MAXIMILIAN 


ANDERSON MorRTLAKE 


ARCHIVES 


Arts D&cORATIFS, 
1907 
ASTIER SCIPIO 


AUSTRIAN INDEX 


BapInN BEAUVAIS 


FIND INTERESTING 


Sale Catalogue of the Collection de S. A. le Due de 
Berwick et Alba, including 75 tapestries, among them 
three of the Van Orley Passion set rich with gold, 
and six of the great Gothic Salvation set. 


Les Tapisseries des Chasses de Maximilien, By Paul 
Alfassa. The best work on the subject. In the 
Gazette des Beaux-Arts, 1920, Volume LXII, pp. 127- 
140, 233-256. 


A Short Account of the Tapestry Works at Mortlake. 
By John Eustace Anderson. It reproduces King 
James’ copy of the agreement made by Henri IV with 
Comans and Planche. The only copy of this is type- 
written, and in the Library of the Victoria and Albert 
Museum. 


Catalogue illustré des Cliches Photographiques des 
Archives de la Commission des Monuments Histo- 
riques. Many tapestry photographs that can be 
purchased. 


Les Chefs-d’Oeuvre du Musée des Arts Décoratifs. 
Shows some of the Tapestries. Paris, 1907. 


La Belle Tapisserie du Roy. By Colonel d’Astier. 
An exhaustive study of Scipio tapestries. Paris, 1907. 


Die Wiener Gobelinssammlung. Verzeichnis der 
Photographien. Indexes by (1) factories, (2) manu- 
facturers, (3) designers and cartoonists, (4) subjects 
of the photographs of all the tapestries, including 
many photographs of details, in the National Austrian 
collection. Indispensable. 


La Manufacture de Tapisseries de Beauvais depuis 
ses origines jusqu’a nos jours. By Jules Badin. 
Much valuable raw material. Paris, 1909. 

281 


282 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF BOOKS 


BaLpass AUSTRIAN 


BAILLIE-GROHMAN 


BEDIER EPIQUES 


BERTAUX SARAGOSSA 


Birk AUSTRIAN 


BopDENHAUSEN DAvID 


BOETTIGER SWEDISH 


BRITTANICA TAPESTRY 


Bruaes, 1907 


BrussExs, 1910 


BrussELs, 1905 


Die Wiener Gobelinssammlung, drei hundert Bildta- 
feln mit beschreibendem Text und wissenschafthchen 
Anmerkungen. By Ludwig Baldass. Three hundred 
illustrations, with critical description, of tapestries 
in the National Austrian collection. Vienna, 1920. 


Sporting Art, from the fifteenth to the eighteenth 
century. By William A. Baillie-Grohman. TIllustra- 
tion and description of the Hunts of Maximilian and 
other hunting tapestries. London, 1919. 


Les Légendes Epiques, recherches sur le formation 
der Chansons de Geste. By Joseph Bédier. The 
best book on Chansons de Gestes. Paris, 1914~21. 


L’Exposition Retrospective de Saragosse. By Emile 
Bertaux. Tapestries of the Saragossa cathedrals 
illustrated and described at considerable length. 
Saragossa and Paris, 1908. 


Inventar der in Besitze der Allerhochsten Kaiser- 
hauses befindlichen Niederlander Tapeten und Gobe- 
lins. By Dr. Ernest Ritter von Birk. In the Austrian 
Jahrbuch 1882, 1883, 1884, 1885. 


Gerard David und seine Schule. By Eberhard 
Freiherr von Bodenhausen. The best book on the 
subject. Munich, 1905. 


Svenska Statens Samling af Vafda Tapeter. By 
Dr. John Boettiger. In Swedish and French. 


Tapestry, in the eleventh edition of the Encyclopedia 
Brittanica. By Alan 8. Cole. An excellent article 
well illustrated. December, 1911. 

Chefs-d’Oeuvre d’Art Ancien a l’Exposition de la 
Toison d’Or, at Bruges in 1907. Illustrates the Esther 
and Ahasuerus tapestries of the Cathedrals of Sara- 
gossa, and many important Burgundian portraits, 
L’Art Belge au XVII siécle, mémorial de eto 
tion d’art ancien & Bruxelles en 1910. 

Tapisseries et Sculptures Bruxelloises a l’Exposition 
d’art ancien bruxellois, organisée a Bruxelles au 
cercle artistique et littéraire, de juillet 4 octobre, 
1905. By Joseph Destrée. Plates I to XXXI are 
of Tapestries. 


DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF BOOKS 283 


BrussE.s, 1880 


BuFFra.o, 1914 


BURKHARDT BASEL 


CALVERT SPANISH 


CHANSON DE ROLAND 


Ciuny, 1883 


CONCORDANCE 


Cox Lyons 


CRICK-KUNZIGER 


DemoTTE GOTHIC 


DERLEYEN 
BURG 


REGENS- 


Les Tapisseries Historiées a l’Exposition Belge de 
1880. By Alphonse Wauters. 

The Buffalo Tapestry Exhibition. With important 
illustrations. In (Buffalo) Academy Notes, October, 
1914. 


Gewirkte Bildteppiche des XV und XVI Jahr hun- 
derts im Historischen Museum zu Basel. By Rudolf 
F. Burckhardt. The best book on German Swiss 
tapestries. The many colored illustrations are of 
the first order, and the text is valuable and interest- 
ing. Leipzig, 1923. 


The Royal Spanish Tapestries. By Albert F. Calbert, 
with 277 illustrations, London, 1921. 


La Chanson de Roland. Texte critique, traduction et 
commentaire, grammaire et glossaire. By Léon 
Gautier. Tours, 1920. 


Catalogue by E. du Somérard. Describes the David 
and the Unicorn sets, and others. 


Concordantiarum universe scripture sacre Thesan- 
rus. By Peultier, Etienne, Gautois, and others of 
the Society of the Jesuits. A concordance to the 
Vulgate, with full lines quoted. Indispensable in 
studying religious tapestries. 


L’Art de décorer les Tissus. Illustration of tapestries 
in the Lyons Museum. 


Guillaume de Hellande’s Tapestries. By Marthe 
Crick-Kunziger. In the Burlington Magazine, 
November, 1924. With note by George Leland 
Hunter, in the Burlington Magazine, April, 1925. 


La Tapisserie Gothique, with preface by Solomon 
Reinach. The finest book ever published on Tapes- 
tries. There are 100 large and magnificent illustra- 
tions in color, of precious Gothics. Demotte. Paris, 
1925. 


Die Altdeutschen Wandteppiche im Regensburger 
Rathause. By Friedrich von Derleyen and Adolf 
Spamer. Some of the illustrations are in color. 
Regensburg, 1910. 


284 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF BOOKS 


DESTREE CINQUENTE- 
NAIRE 


DESTREE GOES 


Destrre ROME 


DoOUTREPONT 
BouRGOGNE 


Farcy ANGERS 


FENAILLE GOBELINS 


FFOULKE 


FRIEDLANDER ORLEY 


GayLEY MytTHs 


GEOFFROY GOBELINS 


GoBEL TAPESTRIES 


GoBEL WANDTEPPICHE 


Les Tapisseries des Musées Royaux du Cinquente- 
naire. By Joseph Destrée and Paul van den Ven. 
Well illustrated. Brussels, 1910. 


Hugo van den Goes. By Joseph Destrée. Brussels, 
1914. | 

Maitre Philippe auteur de Cartons de Tapisserie, 4 
propos de Jean de Bruxelles dit Van Room. By 
Joseph Destrée. Brussels, 1904. 


La Littérature Francaise & la cour des Ducs Bour- 
gogne. By Georges Doutrepont. Paris, 1909. 


Histoire, et Description des Tapisseries de la Cathe- 
drale d’Angers. By L. de Farey. Indispensable. 
Lille and Angers, undated. 

Etat générale des Tapisseries de la Manufacture des 
Gobelins depuis son origine jusqu’a nos jours (1600- 
1900). By Maurice Fenaille. An elaborate descrip- 
tive and illustrated inventory of tapestries made at 
the Gobelins and Fontainebleau. The best work of 
the kind ever published. In five volumes, with 
splendid index. Paris, 1903-1923. 


The Ffoulke Collection of Tapestries. Many tapes- 
tries described, and 74 illustrated. New York, 1913. 
Bernaert van Orley. By Max J. Friedlander, in the 
Prussian Jahrbuch, 1908, 1909. The only important 
work on Van Orley as designer of tapestries and 
as painter. 

The Classic Myths in English Literature and Art. 
By Charles Mills Gayley. Indispensable in studying 
mythological tapestries. 

Les Gobelins, avee 42 illustrations sans texte et 110 
illustrations dans le texte. By Gustave Geoffroy, 
Director of the Gobelins. Illustration of ancient and 
modern Gobelins. Paris, 1924. 

This is Gébel Wandteppiche translated into English 
and abbreviated. In one volume. New York, 1914. 
Wandteppiche, die Niederlinde. MIlustrations of 508 
tapestries. Volume I, Text; Volume II, Plates. Shows 
wide acquaintance with Tapestry Literature and 
Tapestry Photographs. Good indexes. Leipsic, 1923. 


DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF BOOKS 


GonzaGA LuzIo 


Goya TAPICES 


GroscH NoRWEGIAN 


GUERIN CHINOISERIE 


GUICHARD 
GARDE MEUBLE 


GuIFFREY BIBLI- 
OGRAPHY 


GUIFFREY GOBELINS 
GuIFFREY GOMBAUT 


Guirrrey HIsTorre 
GUIFFREY SEIZIEME 


HAvARD GOBELINS 


285 


Gli Arazzi dei Gonzaga restituiti dall’ Austria. Illus- 
tration and description of the Raphael’s Acts of the 
Apostles Tapestries, originally in the Gonzaga collec- 
tion at Mantua, but alienated to Vienna in 1866 by 
order of Emperor Francis Joseph, and returned to 
Italy as one of the results of the Great War. 
Bergamo, 1919. 


Los Tapices de Goya. By D. G. Cruzada Villaamil. 


Gamle Norske Billedtaepper. By H. Grosch. Text 
in Norwegian and German. Color plates of twelve 
ancient tapestries made in Norway. Berlin, 1901. 


Le Chinoiserie en Europe au XVIII Siécle. By 
Jacques Guérin. With illustration of Vernansal’s 
Chinese set made at Beauvais, and of Boucher’s 
Chinese sets made at Beauvais and at Aubusson. 
Paris, 1901. 


Les Tapisseries Décoratives du Garde Meuble. By 
Ed. Guichard, with text by Alfred Darcel. Splendid 
illustrations of Tapestries in the National French 
collection. Paris, undated. 

La Tapisserie, bibliographic critique de la Tapisserie 
dans les differents pays de l’Europe, depuis ses 
origines jusqu’a nos jours. Paris, 1904. 


Les Gobelins and Beauvais. By Jules Guiffrey. A 
brief but useful illustrated book on the factories and 
tapestries of the Gobelins and Beauvais. 


Les Amours de Gombaut et de Macée. By Jules 
Guiffrey. A study of the Gombaut and Macée set 
in the Museum of Saint-L6. Paris, 1882. 


Histoire de la Tapisserie. By Jules Guiffrey. A fine 
pioneer work, with excellent index. Tours, 1886. 


Les Tapestries du Douziéme 4 la Fin du Seiziéme 
Siecle. By Jules Guiffrey. 


Les Manufactures Nationales, Les Gobelins, Sévres, 
Beauvais. By Henry Havard et Marius Vachon. 
Paris, 1889. 


286 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF BOOKS 


HISTOIRE GENERALE 


HorentTscHeL Morcan 


Hunter ACHILLES 


Hunter APOSTLES 


HuntTER CHICAGO 


HuntTeR CLEVELAND 


Three huge and unwieldy volumes: French Tapes- 
tries, by Guiffrey; Flemish tapestries, by Pinchart; 
Italian, German and English tapestries by Mintz. 
Much raw material. Some important illustrations. 
Paris, 1874-1884. 


Volume I of the illustrated catalogue of the Collec- 
tions Georges Hoentschel acquises pas M. J. Pierpont 
Morgan. Plates LX to LXXII are of Tapestries. 
Paris, 1908. 

Achilles Tapestries designed by Rubens, with especial 
reference to the three in the Boston Museum of Fine 
Arts. By George Leland Hunter. In the Inter- 
national Studio, December, 1913. 

The Acts of the Apostles Tapestries, after Raphael. 
By George Leland Hunter. In the International 
Studio, 1913. 

Tapestries in the Chicago Art Institute. By George 
Leland Hunter. In House Beautiful, 

The Cleveland Tapestry Exhibition. By George 
Leland Hunter. In American Magazine of Art, 
February, 1919. 


Huwrer Encycuopepta The article on Tapestry in the New International 


Hunter, 1912 


Hunter EXHIBITIONS 


HuntTER EXHIBITIONS 


Hunter Gops 


Hunter GoLp 


Encyclopedia, New York, 1907. 

Tapestries, their Origin, History and Renaissance. 
By George Leland Hunter. New York and London, 
1912. 

The Tapestry Exhibitions of New York and Buffalo. 
By George Leland Hunter. In Arts and Decoration, 
November, 1914. 

Catalogues of the Tapestry Exhibitions of Brooklyn, 
1914; Avery Library, 1914; Buffalo, 1914; Phila- 
delphia, 1915; Cleveland, 1918; Detroit, 1919. By 
George Leland Hunter. 

The Loves of the Gods, most famous of the six 
splendid sets of Beauvais-Boucher tapestries. With 
illustration of the Metropolitan Museum’s “ Venus 
and Vulean.” In Arts and Decoration, March, 1923. 


Tapestries rich with Gold. By George Leland Hunter. 
With illustrations of three of Bernard Van Orley’s 


DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF BOOKS 987 


Hunter METAMOR- 
PHOSES 


Hunter MeErtrRopo.t- 
TAN 

Hunter Museums 

Hunter PArRNASssvus 


Hunter RoMANTIC 


Hunter SACRAMENTS 


Hunter TEXTILES 


JOURDAIN DE BLAYE 


JUBINAL TAPISSERIES 


20 


great Passion set; Mr. Philip Lehman’s Last Supper; 
the Road to Calvary, and Gethsemane, of the Royal 
Spanish collection. In Arts and Decoration, Decem- 
ber, 1922, 

The Metamorphoses of Ovid. By George Leland 
Hunter. Illustration and description of an Aubusson 
set of Oudry’s Metamorphoses. In Arts and Decora- 
tion, June, 1915. 


Tapestries at the Metropolitan Museum. By George 
Leland Hunter. In the International Studio, Feb- 
ruary, 1912. 


Tapestries in American Museums. By George Leland 
Hunter. In the International Studio, 1913 


Parnassus, a tapestry in the New York Public 
Library. By George Leland Hunter. In the Bulletin 
of the Library, August, 1915, and separately as a 
pamphlet. 

The Romantic Interest of Tapestries. By George 
Leland Hunter. ‘With important illustrations. In 
the Brooklyn Museum Quarterly, March, 1914. 


Burgundian Tapestries in the Metropolitan Museum. 
By George Leland Hunter. This article established 
the facts about the Metropolitan Museum’s Seven 
Sacraments. In the Burlington Magazine, December, 
1907. 


Decorative Textiles. An illustrated book on cover- 
ings for furniture, walls and floors, including 
damasks, brocades and velvets, tapestries, laces, em- 
broideries, chintzes, cretonnes, drapery and furniture 
trimmings, wall papers, carpets and rugs, and illum- 
inated leathers. By George Leland Hunter. Chap- 
ters XII to XVI, on Tapestries. Philadelphia, 1918. 


Amis et Amiles and Jourdains de Blaivies. Edited 
by Konrad Hofman. Erlangen, 1882. 


Les Anciennes Tapisseries Historiées. By Achille 
Jubinal. Ninety-nine large plates in line, hand 
colored, from drawings by Victor Sansonnetti, of 
famous Gothic tapestries. The text is interesting. 
Paris, 1838. 


288 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF BOOKS 


JULLEVILLE MYSTERES 


Kann, 1907 


Kocn KUNSTWERKE 


Kurt Busant 


Kurt Tournal 


LAFONTAINE FABLES 


LAFONTAINE PSYCHE 


LARousse DICTION- 
NAIRE 


Larousse LITTERATURE 


LEGENDE DOREE 


Les Mystéres. By L. Petit de Julleville. Paris, 1880. 
The best book on the French Gothic religious theatre. 


Volume II of the eatalogue of the Rodolphe Kann 
collection. Illustration of Boucher’s Noble Pastorale, 
and Oudry’s Comedies of Moliére. 


Kunstwerke und Biicher am Markte. By Gunther 
Koch. Esslinger, 1915. 


Mittelhochdeutsche Dichtungen auf Wandteppichen 
des XV Jahrhunderts. By Betty Kurt. A study 
of the “Story of the Kite” (Busant) tapestries at 
the Nuremberg, and Victoria and Albert Museums; 
also, of the “Queen of France and the Faithless 
Marshal” in the Nuremberg Museum. Good work. 
In the Austrian Jahrbuch, 1915. 


Die Blutzeit der Bildwirkerkunst zu Tournai. By 
Betty Kurt. Brilliant and indispensable study of 
Gothic tapestries made at Tournai. In the Austrian 
Jahrbuch, 1917. . 


Fables de Lafontaine, avec les Figures d’Oudry. 
Réimpression de l’edition Desaint et Saillant, 1755. 
Oudry’s famous illustrations of Lafontaine’s Fables, 
many of which were woven over and over again into 
chair and sofa tapestry seats and backs at Beauvais 
and Aubusson, and also into seats at the Gobelins. 
Lévy, Paris, 1886. 


Les Amours de Psyehé et de Cupidon. By Jean de 
Lafontaine. With lithographed reproductions of 
Agostino Veneziano’s engravings of the Story of 
Psyche, from sketches made in the studio of Raphael. 
Didot, Paris, 1825. 


Grand Dictionnaire Universel. By Pierre Larousse. 
Indispensable. Paris, 1866 to 1876. 


Histoire de la Littérature Francaise, illustrée. By 
Joseph Bédier and Paul Hazard. Convenient in 
studying the literary sources of Gothic and other 
French tapestries. Paris, 1924. 


La Légende Dorée, par Jacques de Voragine. Tra- 
duite du Latin. Gosselin, Paris, 1843. 


DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF BOOKS 289 


Lorn MrramMorPHoses Ovid Metamorphoses, Latin text, with English trans- 


LESSING JACOB 


LESSING WANDTEP- 
PICHE 


Lors PsycHeE 


Maprip, 1893 


Mite THIRTEENTH 


MAvEe FIFTEENTH 


MaRILLIER TROJAN 


lation by Frank Justus Miller. Indispensable in 
studying mythological tapestries. London and New 
Work. s1910; 

Die Wandteppiche aus dem Leben des Erzvaters 
Jacob. By Julius Lessing. Large illustrations of 
the set of ten Story of Jacob Renaissance tapestries 
formerly in Bologna, now in a German private 
collection. 

Wandteppiche und Decken des Mittelalters in Deut- 
schland. By Julius Lessing and Max Creutz. With 
large illustrations, some in color, of medieval German 
tapestries. Berlin, 1872. 

Apuleius, the Golden Ass, being the Metamorphoses 
of Lucius Apuleius. Latin text, with English trans- 
lation. Contains the Story of Psyche, as told by 
the Old Woman. London and New York, 1919. 


Catélogo General of the Exposicion Historico- 
Europea, 1892-1893. Contains much information 
not elsewhere accessible about tapestries of the 
Spanish cathedrals, and of the Spanish Royal collec- 
tion. Madrid, 1893. 

L’Art Réligieux du Treiziéme Siécle en France. By 
Emile Male. Important for Vincent de Beauvais 
and other sources of Gothic religious tapestries. 
Paris, 1902. 

L’Art Réligieux de la Fin du Moyen Age, en France. 
By Emile Male. Indispensable for sources of Gothic 
Religious Tapestries. Paris, 1908. 

The Tapestries of the Painted Chamber. By H. S. 
Marillier. In the Burlington Magazine, January, 
1925. With note by George Leland Hunter in the 
Burlington Magazine, April, 1925. 


Martin Le Roy, 1908 Volume IV of the splendid, illustrated catalogue of 


Meyer ALEXANDER 


the collection of Martin Le Roy of Paris. By 


Marquet de Vasselot. 

Alexandre le Grand, dans la Littérature Francaise du 
Moyen Age. By Paul Meyer. Indispensable in 
studying the Story of Gothic Alexander tapestries. 
Paris, 1886. 


290 


DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF BOOKS 


MICHELANT ALEXANDERLi Romans d’Alixandre, par Lambert li Tors, et 


MIGEON MAXIMILIAN 


Micron Tissus 


Mountz Louis Douzze 


Muntz TAPESTRY 


Mountz TAPISSERIE 


Muntz VATICAN 


PoLovTsorr RUSSIAN 


Primitirs 1904 


Ricct Morcan 


RoMAN DE TROIE 


RoruHscHiItpD TESTA- 
MENT 


Rozzi ARAZZO 


Alexandre de Bernay. Edited by Heinrich Michelant. 
Stuttgart, 1846. 


Les Tapisseries des Chasses de Maximilien, au Musée 
du Louvre. Two large plates in color, and 12 in 
héliogravure, of the Tapestries, besides halftones of 
the original small sketches. 


Les Arts du Tissu. By Gaston Migeon. Pages 168 
to 349 are devoted to the history of Tapestries. 
Paris, 1909. 


La Tapisserie, VY Epoque de Louis Douze. Illustration 
of the Hunolstein and Kermaingant collections. By 
Eugene Muntz. In Les Lettres et Les Arts, August, 
1886. Library of the Metropolitan Museum, 156.3; 
M 926. 


A Short History of Tapestry. By Eugene Muntz, 
translated by Louisa J. Davis. London, 1885. 


‘Paris, 1882. 


Les Tapisseries de Raphael au Vatican, et dans les 
principaux musées ou collections de l’Hurope. By 
Eugene Muntz. Paris, 1897. 


Some Notes on the St. Petersburg Tapestry Works. 
By A. Polovtsoff and V. Chambers, in the Burlington 
Magazine, 1919. 

Illustrated catalogue of the Exposition des Primitifs 
Francais au Palais du Louvre, Pavillon de Marsan. 
Nos. 259 to 286, 260 bis, are tapestries. 


Catalogue of Twenty Tapestries from the J. P. 
Morgan collection. By Seymour de Ricci. Paris, 
1913. 

Le Roman de Troie par Benoit de Sainte Maure. 
Edited by Leopold Constans. Société des Anciens 
Textes Frangais. Paris, 1904. 

Le Mystére du Vieil Testament, publié avec introduc- 
tion, notes et glossaire. By Baron James de Roths- 
child. Société des Anciens Textes Francais. Paris, 
1878. 


L’Arte Arazzo. 


La Tapisserie. By Eugene Muntz. 


By G. B. Rossi. Milan, 1907. 


DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF BOOKS 291 


SARAGOSSA, 1917 


Sartor Rerms 


Scumipt BILDTEP- 
PICHE 


SCHUMANN TROJAN 


Sort TourNnAI 
SomzkEsr, 1901 


Sprtiott1 Russian 


Sprrzer, 1890 


SUBSCRIBERS’ EDITION 


Suripa TRIULZIO 


TAPICES DEL REY 


THOMSON ENGLAND 


Illustrated catalogue of the Exposicion celebrada en 
la antique Lonja de la Ciudad, of Los Tapices de 
Zaragoza, containing many of the marvelous tapestries 
in the collection of the Saragossa cathedrals. 


Les Tapisseries, Toiles Peintes et Broderies de Reims. 
By M. Sartor. The best book on the tapestries of 
Reims. Reims, 1912. 


Bildteppiche, Geschichte der Gobelin-wirkerei. By 
Hermann Schmidt. The best book on German tapes- 
tries, with abbreviated treatment of others. Well 
illustrated. Berlin, 1919. 


Der Trojanische Krieg. Illustration and description 
of the eight fifteenth century color sketches, now in 
the Louvre, of part of the great Gothic Trojan War 
set of Tapestries. Dresden, 1898. 


Les Tapisseries de Tournai; les tapissiers et les haute 
lisseurs de cette ville. By Eugene Soil. Lille, 1892. 


Illustrated sale catalogue of the famous Somzée col- 
lection, containing many important tapestries. 

An article in Russian on the Imperial Russian 
Tapestry Factory. In the magazine, Treasures of 
Art in Russia, 1903. 


The finest of art catalogues. The 23 tapestries are 
described by Miintz, and 7 of them are illustrated 
in color. Others of the tapestries are illustrated in 
the Sale Catalogue. Paris, 1893. 


A special edition of this volume, at an advanced 
price, in special binding; with four extra colour 
plates, and 16 extra plates in doubletone, of important 
tapestries in America. 

Jugendwerke von Bramantino. By W. Suida. In 
the Austrian Jahrbuch, 1904. Shows that the Triulzio 
tapestry Months were designed by Bramantino. 

Los Tapices de la Casa del Rey N. S. By Elias 
Tormo Monzo and Francisco J. Sanchez Canton. 
Tapestries of the Royal Spanish collection illustrated 
and described. Indispensable. Madrid, 1919. 


Tapestry Weaving in England. By W. G. Thomson. 
The best book on the subject. London, 1914. 


292 DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF BOOKS 


THOMSON HISTORY 


A History of Tapestry from the earliest times until 
the present day. By W.G. Thomson. Has fine color 
illustrations of two of the Duke of Devonshire’s 
Gothic Hunting tapestries, and useful indexes. Lon- 
don, 1906. 


Union CEnTRALE, 1876 Catalogue of the Fifth Exhibition of the Union 


VALENCIA SPANISH 


VALERI VIGEVANO 


Vatican History 


VICTORIA AND ALBERT, 
1914 
VERSAILLES, 1910 


VULGATE 


WaAUvUTERS BRUSSELS 
WEESE BERNE 


Woop CREDO 


Woop SALVATION 


WurzBacH LEXICON 


Centrale des Beaux Arts Appliqués. Nos. 253 to 409 
are tapestries, many of them of prime importance. 
Tapices de la Corona de Espafia. By Count Valencia 
de Don Juan. Tapestries of the Royal Spanish col- 
lection illustrated and described. Indispensable. 
Madrid, 1903. 

Volume IV (on le arti industriali, la letteratura, la 
musica) of La Corte di Lodovico il Moro. By 
Francesce Malaguzzi Valeri. Milano, 1923. 

The Vatican, its history, its treasures. Pages 231 
to 250 on the Gallery of Tapestries. Illustrated. 
New York, 1914. 

Catalogue of Tapestries in the Victoria and Albert 
Museum. By A. F. Kendrick. Illustrated. 
Tapisseries des Gobelins exposées au Palais de Ver- 
sailles, en 1910. Plates I to XII illustrate the set 
copied after Mignard’s paintings at St. Cloud; plates 
XIII to XXIV, Coypel’s Old Testament. 

Biblia Sacre, vulgatz editionis. Indispensable in 
studying religious Tapestries. Pustet, at Ratisbon 
and Rome, 1922. 

Les Tapisseries Bruxelloises.s By A. Wauters. 
Brussels, 1878. 

Die Cisar-Teppiche. With four large color plates. 
By Arthur Weese. Berne, 1911. 

Credo Tapestries. By D. T. B. Wood. In the Bur- 
lington Magazine, 1920, Volume XXIV, pp. 247- 
254, 309-316. 

Tapestries of the Seven Deadly Sins. By D. T. B. 
Wood. In the Burlington Magazine, 1912, Volume 
XX, pp. 210-222, 277-289. 

Niederlindsches Kunstler-Lexicon. By Dr. Alfred 
von Wurzbach. The best dictionary of the painters 
of the Netherlands. Vienna, 1906. 


INDEX 


A 
Abraham, 13, 128, 133, 267 


Achilles, 75, 76, 77, 78, 87, 154, 177, 


189, 251 

Adlington Hall, 225 

Aelst, Peter van, 121, 130, 133, 266 

Ainard Collection, 84 

Aix-en-Provence, 160, 176 

Alavoine collection, 176, 202 

Alba, Duke of, 79, 80, 136, 150, 181, 
250, 254, 266 

Albert and Isabella, Archdukes, 3, 
220, 250 

Albright, Mr. John J., 127, 140, 267 

Aldred, Mr. J. E., 103 

Alexander, Mrs. C. B., 33, 175 

Alexander the Great, 18, 46, 83-85, 
86, 145, 147, 155, 177, 247, 248, 264 

Alentours, 182, 183, 189, 190, 200 

Aliaga, Duchess of, 134 

Allen, Mr. Charles Henry, 223 

Allen, Mrs. Frederick H., 201 

Altman collection, 124, 127, 174, 240 

Amiens, 44 

Anet, Chateau d’, 138 

Angers, 17, 21, 22, 45, 46, 54, 104— 
105, 137, 194, 196, 249, 251, 253, 
254, 263 

Anitchkoff Palace, 182 

Anjou, Duke of, 21, 249, 253 

Apocalypse, 17, 20, 21, 24, 25, 135, 
249, 251, 253, 263, 267 

Architecture, 20, 23, 26, 42, 50, 55, 
57, 61, 64, 68, 79, 88, 90, 125, 128, 
ae2, 135, 167, 168, 169, 172, 175, 
223 

Arnault, 162 

Arthur, King, 17-21, 24, 25, 115, 116, 
207, 234, 235 


Arras, 1, 17, 24, 25, 229, 269 

Aske, Hall, 190 

Asselt, Bernardino van, 216 

Assisi, Don Franciso d’, 183, 186 

Astor, Major J. J., 93 

Atherton, Mrs. Ray, 136 

Aubusson, 12, 99, 101, 147, 193-204, 
251, 257, 258, 269, 272, 274 

Aubusson Rugs, 202-203 

Audran, designer, 181, 182 

Audran, weaver, 151, 180, 183, 
268 

Augustus, 44, 58, 90, 113-114, 
154 

Aune (ell), 268-269 

Austrian, 69, 70, 132, 183, 135, 137, 
138, 140, 149, 152, 154, 156, 158, 
162, 181, 203, 254, 267, 272 

isaihors. Al, 59, 60, 111, 245-250 

Auwerex, 156, 267 


188, 


115, 


B 
Babouneix, 202 
Bachaumont, 166 
Baeri collection, 64 
Bailleul, Baudouin de, 251 
Baker, Mr. Geo. F., 173, 174, 176 
Bale (Basel), 205-210 
Balloch Castle, 152 
Barberini, 216-217 
Barraband, Jean, 210 
Barcheston, 219-220 
Bardae collection, 106 
Barney collection, 136 
Bataille, Nicolas, 21, 263 
Bauer collection, 214 
Baudouin, 138, 201 
Baume, Count Guillaume de la, 89 
Baumgarten & Company, Wm., 156, 
199, 200, 201, 257, 275 


293 


294 


Bavaria, Duke of, 211 

Bayeu, 226 

Beards and hair, 21, 22, 42, 236, 255 

Beaumetz, Pierre de, 264 

Beaune, 64, 68 

Beauvais, 2, 12, 158, 159-177, 179, 
186, 188, 193, 198, 199, 201, 227, 
249, 250, 253, 257, 259, 262, 268, 

~ 269 

Beauvais, Vincent de, 248 

Beauvais-Bouchers, 165-176, 240, 255, 
261 

Béhagle, 160-163, 164, 180, 227, 262, 
268 

Belton House, 225, 226 

Benood, 224 

Benoist, Michel, 171 

Bérain, Jean, 160-161 

Bernay, Alexandre, 248 

Berlin, 10, 13, 132, 182, 190, 197, 
205, 210 

Berne, 53, 54, 55, 89, 108, 204, 251 

Bernheimer, 37 

Berwick and Alba collection, 32, 33, 
127, 135, 154, 155, 250 

Besnier, N., 164, 165, 268 

Besoancon, 120, 199 

Bible of the Poor, 66 

Biest, Hans van der, 210 

Bischoffheim collection, 181 

Blanchet collection, 66 

Blair, Mrs. Chauncey, 108 

Blair, Mr. C. Ledyard, 173 

Blumenthal, Mr. George, 20, 116, 124, 
126, 134 

Bolecir, Gillame, 154 

Bollandist Fathers, 120, 249 

Bombeck, Seeger, 210 

Borght, Van der, 156, 158 

Boston, 10, 30, 31, 32, 68, 112, 154 

Boucher, Francois, 2, 12, 100, 144, 
165-176, 179, 188-190, 182, 199- 
201, 244, 249, 250, 255, 256, 262, 
271, 272 

Boudeaux, 190, 191, 262 


INDEX 


Boussae, Chateau de, 99 

Bradbury, Mrs. F. T., 119 

Bradley, Mr. Edson, 42, 75, 78, 81 

Bradshaw, 226 

Brady, Mrs. Nicolas F., 40, 102, 103, 
253 

Braquenié collection, 199, 200, 202 

Brennus, 87-88 

Brezé, Chateau de, 110 

British Museum, 10 

Broche, 268 

Bronzino, 216 

Brussels, 1, 2, 18, 19, 24, 45, 46, 53, 
54, 55, 59, 60, 64, 69, 70, 71, 82, 
89, 92, 103, 115, 120, 123, 125, 126, 
127, 128, 129, 130, 132, 134, 135, 
138, 139, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 
155, 158, 162, 193, 203,207; 
240, 250, 251, 253, 254, 255, 257, 
262, 265-267, 269 

Bruges, 146, 152, 157, 263, 264, 265 

Bruges, Hennequin de, 251 

Budapest, 122 _ 

Burgos, 32, 33, 35, 38 

Burkhardt, Herr, 206 

Burley-on-the-Hill, 226 

Burne-Jones, 273 


C 

Cesar, 18, 46, 89-91, 214 

Campin, Robert, 1. 

Cartoons, 9, 17, 21, 53, 54, 68, 97, 126, 
131-132, 138, 170, 187, 225322; 
240, 245, 250-252, 259-260, 261, 
262, 273, 276, 277, 280 

Casanova, 176, 272 

Chaise-Dieu, 64, 66, 68, 249 

Chansons de geste, 18, 26, 92, 94, 
246-247 

Charlemagne, 13, 18, 20, 92, 94, 115, 
118, 246-247 

Charles the Bold, 50, 56, 58, 87, 89, 
108-109, 120, 255, 264 

Charles collection, 52 

Charles I, 220, 223 


INDEX 


Charles II, 224 

Charles V, 18, 21 

Charles V, Duke, 203-204 

Charles V, Emperor, 97, 117, 125, 
126, 128, 129, 135, 153, 180, 254, 
255, 264 

Charles VII, 1, 19, 66, 107, 196, 255, 
264 

Charles XI, 162 

Charron, A. C., 176, 268 

Chawton Manor, 219 

Chien-lung, Emperor, 171 

Chicago, 99, 136 

Chigi, Cardinal, 146 

Children, 133, 134, 147, 160, 251 

Chinese, 4, 12, 120, 162, 199, 200, 225, 
229, 237-238 

Christ, 13, 14, 23, 31, 34, 35, 36, 41, 
44, 47, 51, 58, 63, 64, 66, 68, 70, 
ie, 418 119, 120, 121, 123, 133, 
157, 195, 203, 208, 216 

Clark, Senator, 102, 175, 181, 268 

Cleopatra, 154, 188, 267 

Cleveland, 105, 196, 217 

Cleyn, Francis, 221, 224 

Cluny Museum, 1), 41, 59, 64, 98-100, 
103, 104 

Coats of Arms, 207, 215, 219, 220, 
222, 225, 253, 254 

Colonna, Guida da, 248 

Colors, 7, 107, 155, 197, 194, 259, 276 

Columbus, 254 

Comans, 129, 130, 220, 262 

Commodore, Hotel, 148 

Como, 214 

Compiégne, 150, 162, 183, 186, 187 

Conceix, 200 

Condé the Great, 144-145 

Constantine, 149, 153, 217 

Cooper, Sir George, 272 

Corneille, 186 

Costumes, 18, 19, 21, 42, 43, 90-91, 
97, 100, 107, 125, 255 


295 


Country Life, 163, 176, 180, 198, 201, 
202, 244 

Coypel, Antoine, 182 

Coypel, Charles, 149, 181-186, 189, 
244, 250, 272 

Coypel, Noel, 149 

Cozette, 180, 181, 183, 185, 190, 191, 
268 

Cracow, 94, 265 

Crane, Sir Francis, 220-221, 224 

Credo tapestries, 29, 30-32, 66, 111, 
240, 244, 248, 266 

Crétif, Mare, 134, 267 

Crick-Kunziger, Madame, 64 

Croome Court, 190 

Crow, Sir Sackville, 224 

Crucifixion, 26, 31, 32, 33, 34-35, 45, 
46, 68, 69, 123, 124, 126, 240 

Cumberland, Duke of, 226, 272 

Cupid, 70, 83, 108, 150, 166, 189, 201 

Curel, Vicomte de, 200 

Cutting, Mrs. Wm. Bayard, 152 

Cyrus the Great, 135, 154, 157, 226, 
250 


| D 

Dary, Robert, 264 

David, 18, 34, 47, 49, 59-62, 66, 117, 
122, 127, 135, 136, 266 

Decius, 153, 251 

Davillier collection, 123 

Delacroix, 268 

Delafosse, 186 

Delafraye, 268 

Delft, 136 

De Menou, 268 

De Mérou, 165 

Demidoff collection, 136 

Demotte, 30, 33, 38, 263 

Denia, Duchess of, 134 

Demay, Stephen, 226 

Deshayes, 176 

Designs, 243-256, 276, 277 

Desportes, 180, 182 


296 


Destrée, Joseph, 27, 122, 251, 252 

De Troy, 187, 249 

Devonshire, Duke of, 101 

Diana, 135, 136, 138, 140, 141, 143, 
145, 181, 186, 199, 267 

Dixon, Mrs. Fitz-Eugene, 183, 185, 
261 

Dollfus collection, 126 

Don Quixote, 100, 176, 181, 185, 189, 
203, 226, 250, 261, 262, 268 

Doria, Palazzo, 84, 86, 180, 181, 248, 
264 

Donddelle Rose, Count, 133 

Dourdin, Jacques, 263 

Drake, Mr. Alexander W., 108 

Dreicer collection, 45, 124, 240 

Dresden, 180, 210 

Drouais, 191 

Dubreuil, Toussaint, 140, 144, 146 

Dulcinea del Toboso, 183 

Dumons, Jean Joseph, 170, 197, 199 

Durmonteil, 200 

Duveen, Sir Joseph, 31, 44, 54, 58, 
103, 105, 108, 225 


E 


Edgewater Tapestry Looms, 257, 275 

Eells, Mr. Howard P., 144 

Egyptian, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 15 

Einstein, Miss Alice, 227 

Elizabeth, Empress, 227 

Elizabeth, Queen, 219 

Ell (see aune) 

Elysée, Palace de 1’, 150 

Engel-Gros collection, 115, 206 

Enghien, 137 

Erlanger, Baron d’, 155 

Kseurial, 226 

Esther, 46, 55, 58, 112, 115, 116, 124, 
187, 188, 249, 265 

Eucharist, 64, 68, 123 

Eugénie, Empress, 182 

Evangelists, with symbols, 70, 118, 
149, 223 


INDEX 


Exhibitions—Avery Library, 1914, 
127; Brooklyn, 1914, 202; Brook- 
lyn, 1918, 147; Bruges, 1902, 41; 
Bruges, 1907, 254; Brussels, 1905, 
41, 127; Brussels, 1910, 154; Buf- 
falo, 1914, 127, 140, 154, 199, 267; 
Cleveland, 1918, 141, 144, 170, 174, 
188, 199, 202; Franco-British, 1921, 
82, 93; Hispanic Museum, 1917, 
227; Limoges, 1886, 198; Madrid, 
1892, 79, 86; Musée des Arts 
Decoratifs, 1923, 186; Notre Dame, 
1922, 196; Paris, 1876, 24; Paris, 
1880, 40; Philadelphia, 1915, 154, 
156, 157, 161, 198, 267; Primitifs 
Francais, 1904, 24, 106; San Fran- 
cisco, 1915, 147; Union Centrale, 
1876, 222. 


F 


Farcy, L. de, 21 

Faust, Mr. Edward A., 60 

Felletin, 137, 138, 193 

Fénelon, 162, 163, 202 

Ferdinand, Archduke Franz, 157, 182 

Ferdinand, Emperor, 128, 129 

Ferdinand and Isabella, 50, 56, 113, 
123, 265 

Fere, Pierrot, 263 

Ferloni, Pietro, 217 | 

Ferrara, 133, 135, 214, 215 

Fishing, 148, 165, 170, 175, 176, 180, 
199, 200, 262 

Florence, 61, 63, 95, 106, 118, 122, 
135, 140, 147, 150, 154, 161, 186, 
214-216 

Fontainebleau, 186, 254 

Fontenay, 182, 272 

Forde Abbey, 223 

Fortuny, 50 

Foucquet, Jean, 107 

Foulke collection, 127, 142, 180, 202, 
204 3 

Fouquet, 140, 145, 149, 157 


INDEX 


Fouquiéres, Jacques, 159 

Fragonard, 201 

Francis I, 97, 129, 134, 138, 254, 255 

French, P. W. & Co., 61, 70, 81, 109, 
143, 195, 198, 201, 202, 225, 250 

Fulham, 226 


G 


Gardener collection, 135 

Gargan collection, 162 

Geubels, 133, 155, 267 

Ghent, Juste de, 252 

Ghiordes Knot, 209 

Gideon, 66, 67, 68, 264 

Ginn, Mr. Frank H., 152 

Giovanelli, Prince, 181 

Gobelins, 2, 8, 12, 69, 100, 104, 124, 
130, 133, 137, 138, 139-152, 
159, 160, 163, 176, 179-191, 
195, 196, 197, 198, 199, 239, 240, 
241, 245, 250, 253, 254, 257, 261, 
262, 267, 268, 269, 272, 274, 277 

Gobelin-Buchers, 188-190, 200, 
220, 221, 225 

Godfrey de Bouillon, 18, 94, 115, 116, 
142, 143 

Goelet, Mr. Robert, 157 

Gold, 2, 3, 14, 20, 27, 45, 98, 
111-124, 125, 133, 135, 138, 
161, 193, 238, 239, 262, 264, 266, 
280 

Golden Fleece, 251, 264 

Golden Legend, 249 

Gomez-Moreno, Senor, 77, 80 

Goodyear, Mrs. Frank H., 199 

Gothic, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 17-124, 125, 128, 
130, 137, 210, 230, 234, 240, 241, 
252, 255, 256, 263 

Gould, Mrs. George, 170, 176 

Goya, 226 

Greban, Arnoul, 36, 37 

Grellet, 197 

Grenier, 94, 264—265 

Grotesques, 151, 160, 181, 214, 219, 
225 


297 


Groult collection, 190 
Guggenheim, Mr. Daniel, 82, 110 
Guiffrey, Jules, 21, 143, 251, 277 
Guilford collection, 225 

Guise, Duke of, 91, 129 

Gypsies, 102, 176, 253 


H 

Haar, Chateau de, 32, 33 

Haddon Hall, 109, 224 

Hainauer collection, 45, 124, 127 

Halberstadt Cathedral, 13 

Hamilton, Duke of, 217 

Hampton Court, 32, 33, 35, 39, 63, 
69, 128, 133, 155, 250 

Hampton Shops, 143, 267 

Harriman, Mrs. E. H., 108, 129 

Hartford, 140, 141, 154, 267 

Hatchings, 9, 24, 25, 27, 61, 98, 229- 
239 

Havemeyer collection, 188 

Hayward, Mrs. William, 164 

Hearst, Mr. William Randolph, 30, 
32, 33, 35, 39, 83, 133, 134, 142 

Hector, 18, 73-74, 76, 78, 235 

Heilbronner collection, 52, 77 

Helen of Troy, 14, 70, 78, 79, 80-81, 
224 

Hellande, Guillaume de, 64, 65 

Hennequin de Bruges, 21 

Henri II, 138, 255 

Henri IV, 139, 190, 253 

Henry VI, 66, 101, 255 

Henry VIII, 219, 255 

Hercules, 70, 81-83, 108, 135 

Herkinbald, 53-55, 204, 251 

Hero, 223, 224, 226 

Herter Looms, 257, 275 

Hinart, Louis, 159-160, 164 

Hirsch, Baron de, 161 

Hiss, Mr. Philip, 222 

Hoentschel collection, 32, 55 

Homer, 14, 81, 176, 247 

Honors, 122, 249 

Houasse, 162 


298 


Huet, J. B., 176, 197, 201-202, 272 

Hunolstein collection, 39 

Hunting, 101, 163, 165, 170, 180, 186— 
187, 199, 202, 255 

Huntington, Mr. Archer, 166 

Huntington, Mr. H. E., 175-176 

Hutton, Mrs. Edward F., 173, 268 

Hyckes, 219 


I 


Tklé, Mr. Charles, 209 

Indies, 110, 148, 177, 180, 227 

Inscriptions, 9, 11, 13, 22-24, 25, 26, 
De, oa, 84, 05, 36, 31,38, 39, 40; 
41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 47-49, 53, 56, 57, 
59, 60, 62, 63, 65, 67, 68, 73, 80, 
81, 89, 92, 93, 94, 97, 106, 113-114, 
122, 123, 128, 130, 135, 137, 151, 
214, 216, 220, 222, 223, 243 

Isabella of Portugal, 129, 180 

Issoire, 79 

Italian, 69, 130, 154, 160, 165-166, 
173, 182 


J 


Jacquemart-André Museum, 126 

Jacques, 190, 256, 272 

Jans (Jans), 148, 268 

Jeaurat, 188 

Jerusalem, 52, 118, 142, 195, 217, 247 

Jewelry, 10, 20, 21, 167, 168 

Joan of Are, 65, 196, 208 

Johanna the Mad, 2, 113, 115, 117, 
123, 265 

John the Baptist, 27, 64, 122, 197 

Jouaneau, René, 195 

Jourdain de Blaye, 26, | 94 

Jouvenet, 186, 197 

Jubinal, Achille, 85, 102 

Juliard, 197 


K 


Kahn, Mr. Otto, 27, 75-77, 78, 100, 
124, 253 

Kalekian, D. G., 33 

Kann collection, 164, 175-176 


ae 


INDEX 


Karcher, 214-216 
Kermaingant collection, 71 
Knole collection, 119 
Kuhlmann, Secretary von, 127 


L 

Lafontaine, 163-164, 165-170, 198, 
249, 271-272 

eras 189 

Lambeth, 224 

Lamont, Thomas W., 63 

Lancret, 201 

Langeais, Chateau de, 20, 68, 137 

Latin, 15, 29, 32-37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 
45, 51, 60, 65, 66, 67, 73, 80, 81, 
113-114, 122, 123, 128, 130, 135, 
137, 214, 220, 222, 223, 244, 247, 
249, 265 

La Trinité, 140 

Lavallée Poussin, 176 

Lawrence collection, 33 

Leblond, 268 

Lebries, Jean and Pierre, 138 

Lebrun, Charles, 3, 145-149, 155, 157, 
179, 196, 225 

Lefévre (Lefebvre), 140, 180, 216, 
268 

Lehman, Mr. Arthur, 71, 124 

Lehman, Mr. Philip, 108, 119, 126, 
127, 238 

Lemaire de Belges, Jean, 249 

Le Mans, 64, 68 

Leningrad, 94, 179, 182, 190 

Lenoncourt, Robert de, 66 

Leo y Escosura, Senor, 24 

Leprinee, 176, 272 

Le Roy, Martin, 108, 117, 161, 199 

Lever, Lady, Art Gallery, 223 

Leyden, Lueas van, 125, 129-130, 148, 
151, 179, 233, 240, 254, 261, 268 

Leyniers, 154, 162, 267 

Liechtenstein, Prince, 153, 251 

Lille, 146, 203 

Louis Douze tapestries, 261, 265-266 

Louis XI, 120, 255 


INDEX 


Louis XII, 120, 254 

Louis XIV, 139, 142, 144-147, 179, 
180, 181, 186, 240, 250, 253, 254, 
255, 261 

Louis XIV Brussels, 155, 157 

Louis XV, 179, 186-188, 191, 254, 
255 . 

Louis XVI, 150, 176, 183, 191, 198, 
241, 272 

Louvre, 27, 33, 58, 68, 74, 77, 78, 104, 
123, 127, 129, 131, 134, 140, 147, 
148, 150, 151, 187, 190, 216, 251, 
263 

Loves of the Gods, 15, 165, 172-175, 
189, 249 

Lowengard, J., 41 

Lucas (see Leyden) 

Leefdael, Jan van, 154, 267 

Lydig collection, 110, 124 


M 

Mackay, Mr. Clarence H., 17, 18, 19, 
20, 61, 73-75, 78, 124, 160, 161, 177, 
183-184, 234, 235, 266, 268 

Mackay, Mrs. John, 160 

McCormick, Mr. Cyrus, 157 

McLean, Mr. Edward B., 142, 217 

Madrid, 100, 124, 128, 134, 135, 154, 
226, 250, 257, 274 

Maecht, Philip de, 220 

Maincy, 140, 149 

Mander, Karl van, 136 

Mantegna, 213 

Mantua, 132, 138, 149, 150, 213, 215 

Margaret of Anjou, 101 

Margaret of Austria, 117, 120, 125, 
126, 128, 252, 253, 254 

Margaret of York, 56, 87, 264 

Maria Theresa, 191, 203 

Marie Antoinette, 191 

Marie de Bretagne, 23 

Marie Luzinska, 191 

Marie Therése, 146 

Marquand collection, 217 

Martin, Charles Jairus, 55, 101 


299 


Martin, Jean Baptiste, 161-162 

Mather, Mr. W. G., 105 

Maximilian, Emperor, 97, 127, 128, 
129, 148, 251, 254, 255 

Mazarin, 44, 58, 111-115, 117, 134, 
140, 145, 150, 151, 170, 216, 262, 
265 

Medici, 109, 122, 140, 142, 215, 216, 
239, 255 

Medinaceli, Duke of, 134 

Malgrange, 203-204 

Mellon, Hon. Andrew W., 64 

Merton, 257, 273 

Metamorphoses, 163, 165, 172, 187, 
198, 250 

Metropolitan Museum of Art, 10, 42, 
45, 46, 51, 55, 68, 69, 101, 106, 108, 
Mil el2e Loy elesy lal lob is Gg 
140, 142, 143, 149, 154, 173, 174, 
183, 200, 216, 217, 222, 225, 227, 
239, 240, 261, 267, 273 

Minneapolis, 55, 101 

Mignard, 148 

Millefleurs, 46, 100, 109 

Millet, Jacques, 248 

Mitté, Charles, 204 

Moliére, 163, 164, 186, 198 

Monmerqué, 180, 268 

Monmouth, Geoffrey de, 88 

Montespan, Madame de, 160, 254 

Months, 128, 129, 130, 133, 135, 148, 
151, 152, 181, 204, 214, 215, 221, 
223, 233, 240, 254, 261, 268 

Morgan, Mr. J. Pierpont, 30, 32, 55, 
110, 119, 120, 126, 131, 140, 154, 
164, 183, 209-210, 261, 267 

Morse, Mrs. John T., Jr., 152 

Mortlake, 136, 153, 220, 225, 239, 253, 
271 

Moses, 135, 148, 197, 214, 216 

Mostaert, Jean, 253 

Mozin, 268 

Munich, 123, 210, 211 

Murray collection, 124 


300 


Musée des Arts Decoratifs, 27, 41, 82, 
100, 103, 106, 158, 161, 196, 202, 
214, 253 

Musie, 38, 39, 103-104, 168, 180 


N 


Nancy, 58, 71, 203-204 

Nativity, 31, 33, 37, 44, 117, 122, 197 

Natoire, 176, 188 

Nattier, 191 

Neilson, 181, 183, 188, 189, 190, 268, 
271, 272 

New Dispensation, 29, 43, 66, 112- 
113, 116 

Newby Hall, 190 

New York Public Library, 156, 240, 
249, 267 

Northumberland, Duke of, 226 


O 

Old Dispensation, 29, 43, 66, 112-113, 
116 

Opera Fragments, 165, 174-175, 185- 
186 

Orleans Museum, 208 

Orley, Bernard van, 2, 3, 125-129, 
148, 238, 251, 253 

Orley, Jean van, 156-157 

Osterly Park, 190 

Oudenarde, 147, 193, 194 

Oudry, J. B., 163-165, 186-187, 250, 
255, 271-272, 277 

Ovid, 14, 15, 83, 141, 163, 165, 172, 
187, 198-199, 250 


Pp 
Palencia, 32, 33, 35, 38, 39 
Pannemaker, 126, 133, 135, 266-267 
Pardo, 226 
Paris, 1, 17, 25, 131, 139, 146, 149, 
150, 151, 153, 160, 187, 229, 263, 
268, 269, 274, 277 
Parisot, 226 
Park Lane Hotel, 154 
Pavlosk Palace, 190 
Peemans, Gerard, 156, 157 


INDEX 


Perrot, 180, 181, 272 

Petit Palais, 84, 170 

Petrarch, 69-71, 134, 135, 250 

Philip Hl, -117, 1533 

Philip the Good, 50, 94, 106, 120, 
248, 251, 255, 264, 265 

Philip the Handsome, 2, 110, 113, 
115, 117, 118, 128, 130, 238, 264, 
265, 266 

Picon, J. F., 200 

Picqueaux, F., 199 

Planche (Flemish Planken), 139-140, 
143, 220, 267 

Plessis-Macé, 64, 68 

Poissonier, Arnould, 63 

Portland, Duke of, 182, 190 

Poyntz, 224 

Pratt, Mr. Frederic, 27 

Pratt, Mrs. Frederic, 157 

Pratt, Mrs. Harold, 26, 110, 137, 233 

Prentice, Mrs. EK. Parmellee, 136 

Prentiss, Mrs. F. F., 170, 180 

Preuses, 104-105 

Preux, Les Neuf, 18-20, 105, 115, 116, 
138, 208, 254 

Priam, 73, 75, 78, 79, 81, 87, 234, 235, 
236 

Prices, 80, 146, 160, 264-265 

Psyche, 144, 149, 150, 156, 165-170, 
186, 190, 195, 201, 222, 249 


Q 
Quinault, 186 
Quirinal, 170, 173, 181 


R 

Raes, Jan, 154, 155, 267 

Raphael, 125, 130-133, 144, 148-150, 
156, 195, 221 

Raphael’s Acts of the Apostles, 3, 
133, 148-149, 155, 161, 213, 222, 
223, 226, 238, 240, 251, 266 

Raynaud, 196 

Read, Mr. W. A., 154 

Reims, 64, 66, 91, 183, 203, 249, 253 


INDEX 


Reydams, 154, 267 

Reymbouts, Martin, 133, 134 

Rezzonico family, 109 

Rice, Mrs. Alexander Hamilton, 170 

Riviera, 217 

Richmond, Duke of, 181, 182 

Robb collection, 108 

Rockefeller, Mr. John D., Jr., 95-98, 
109, 179, 233, 241, 243, 254, 261, 
268 

Romano, Giulio, 3, 125, 130, 133-135, 
138, 155, 215, 222, 223, 250, 251 

Rome, 88, 133, 140, 144, 149, 150, 
216-217, 226, 251-253, 257 

Roost, John, 215 

Rubens, 3, 62, 149, 153-154, 159, 179, 
251 

Ryan, Mr. Thomas F., 124 

Ryerson, Mr. Martin, 213-214 


S 


Sacraments, Seven, 46-50, 53, 54, 55, 
239 

Salisbury, Marquis of, 220 

Salomon collection, 155 

Salting collection, 134 

Saragossa, 19, 26, 35, 38, 39, 45, 56, 
58, 115, 117, 265 

Saunders, 226 

Saumur, 46, 52, 64 

Sauvage, Jehan, 263 

Scipio, 133, 134, 148, 151, 155, 250, 
251 

Schoor, Louis van, 156, 157, 255 

Seligman, Jacques, 141, 144, 177, 189 

Seligman-Rey collection, 52, 64 

Severance, Mr. John L., 124 

Sherry’s, 148, 188 

Sibyls, 43-45, 113-114 

Simpson, Mrs. John W., 216 

Sigmaringen, 206, 207 

Signatures, 155, 169, 180, 183, 184, 
185, 186, 190, 195, 197, 199, 200, 
203, 204, 214, 216, 217, 222, 224, 
225, 226, 227, 262, 266-268 


301 


Silk, 11, 12, 13, 14, 61, 237-238 

Sistine Chapel, 130, 131 

Sizes, 7, 9, 22, 25, 46, 51, 53, 56, 61, 
91, 117, 128, 146, 152, 154, 156, 
175, 186, 188, 196, 197, 199, 200, 
201, 202, 203, 204, 219, 264, 265 

Sketches, 54, 74-75, 77, 78, 85, 129, 
134, 170, 199, 251, 252, 275, 276, 
280 

Slater, Mrs. H. N., 142, 158 

Smith, Mr. W. Hinckle, 267 

Soho, 224-225, 226 

Somzée collection, 58, 60, 63, 69 

Souet, 268 

Souhami, 200 

Spanish, 3, 11, 60, 100, 111, 116-118, 
121, 122, 126, 127, 132, 133, 134, 
136, 140, 146, 162, 238, 250, 252 

Spiering, Francis, 136 

Spetz collection, 202, 203, 224 

Spitzer collection, 213, 240 

Stanmore Hall, 273 

Stern, Mrs. Louis, 186 

Stevens, Mr. Joseph B., 222 

Stibbert Museum, 63 

Stieglitz Museum, 94 

Stotesbury, Mrs. E. T., 170 

Stranoyer, 226 

Streckens, G. V. D., 154, 267 

Stroganoff collection, 38 


T 
Tapestry definition of, 4 
Tarragona, 63 
Taxis, Francis de, 128 
Taxis, Hans, 267 
Thomson, Mrs. Archibald, 161 
Tiele-Winckler, Count, 128 
Tiffany Studios, 154 
Toledo, 32, 33, 35 
Toulouse, Count of, 151, 160, 179, 
187, 254 
Touraine, 137-138 


302 


Tournai, 1, 18, 25, 41, 44, 46, 53, 63, 
64, 69, 71, 72, 94, 95, 107, 110, 146, 
160, 263, 264, 265, 269 

Tours, 137 

Trajan and Herkinbald, 53-55, 204, 
251 

Trent, 121 

Triulzio, Marchese, 214 

Trojan War, 7, 14, 46, 73-82, 86, 
89, 235, 243, 244, 247-248, 251, 265 

Tuck, Mr. Edward, 170 

Twombly, Mrs. Hamilton McK., 142, 
143, 217 


Vv 


Valencia, Count, 100, 253 

Valenciennes, 254 

Vamx-le-Vicomte, 140, 145 

Vanderbane, 224, 225 

Vanderbilt, Mrs. W. K., Jr., 144 

Vandergoten, 226 

Vandermeulen, 146, 161 

Van Straaten collection, 226 

Vatican, 130, 131, 133, 148, 149 

Vaughan, Mrs. C. Wheaton, 154, 267 

Venus, 135, 150, 151, 156, 162, 167, 
173, 174, 181, 189, 221, 224, 253 

Verdures, 90, 95, 106, 137, 147, 155, 
159, 164, 193 

Vermeyen, 254-255 

Vernansal, 162 

Versailles, 147, 148, 161 

Victoria and Albert Museum, 11, 13, 
27, 69, 71, 79, 94, 101, 103, 111, 
124, 134, 158, 206-207, 219, 221, 
222, 225, 250, 251 

Vienna, 52, 94, 128, 182, 265 


INDEX 


Virgin, 26, 58, 64, 66, 68, 96, 111, 
116-118, 123, 124, 194. 200;eeiss 
238, 240, 249, 251, 252, 253 

Virtues and Vices, 34, 35, 36, 38, 39, 
40, 42, 43, 60, 122, 135 

Vos, I. de, 156 


W 

Walden, Lord Howard de, 
Wallace, Sir Richard, 94, 188 
Wanamaker collection, 141 
Wauters, M., 217 
Welbeck Abbey, 190 
Werniers, G., 203 
Weston Park, 190 
White-Allom collection, 157 
White, Stanford, 143, 157 
Whitney, Harry Payne, 138, 175 
Widener, Mr. Joseph E., 111-115, 

118, 126, 127 
Wildenstein collection, 72, 141, 174 
Williams College, 136 
Williamson collection, 199, 201 
Wimbourne, Viscount, 152 
Windsor Castle, 181, 224 
Wool, 9, 11, 12, 15, 61, 237-238 
Wolsey, Cardinal, 63 


oe 
Yale, 225 
York Philosophical Society, 219 


Z 


Zamora, 78, 79, 80, 86 
Zedlitz, Baroness von, 221 
Zeunen, I. V., 154 








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